On Monday, Fonterra announced another round of job cuts, bringing layoffs to 750 for the year. Yesterday, their annual financial figures showed us why: profits were up, but revenue was down 15%, suggesting next year will be worse. So naturally, today we learn that their boss has given himself an 18% pay rise:
Fonterra’s chief executive received a pay rise of up to $770,000 last year, despite struggling milk prices and hundreds of his staff losing their jobs.
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings’ salary for the year to July 31 was between $4.93 million and $4.94 million, it was revealed in the company’s annual result on Thursday.
That’s up to 18 per cent more then what he was paid in the year to July 31, 2014, pushing his hourly take home wage up to $1595.
New Zealand’s adult minimum wage is $14.75.
It would take someone on minimum wage more than two weeks work to earn what Spierings makes in an hour.
Or 26 years to earn his pay rise.
Sack lots of people. Make less money. Watch your shareholder / suppliers go to the wall due to low prices. Clearly that’s the sort of performance which demands a boatload of cash.
We often find advocates of CEO pay increases are quick to justify such increases while also being rather good at expressing why common wages should stay down.
The sad thing, is that Fonterra is a co -operative – the profits are supposed to be returned to the farmers. Instead they have this imported CEO who specialises in Mergers (why not value added services which is where fonterra should be going) and has got the farmers going into debt with low milk payouts, putting Kiwi workers on the dole with job cuts, while awarding himself a massive pay rise, when turnover is DOWN (not a good sign in a business) and probably lower taxes to the government. WELL DONE NOT!
Send him a message Fonterra farmers and employees and the public!
+100 Ditto
However “The sad thing is, that Fonterra is a co-operative….”
It’s a co-operative that’s been buggerised and buggerised by those highly paid ‘leaders’ (ahem) who tempted its members by allowing them to flog off returns for short term gain when times are good (as I understand it).
The farmers have one of those “one remove” closed governance systems where they vote for a committee who sort out the directors don’t they? Just a closed loop really.
Frankly if you have 17 people paid over a $1m and they didn’t prepare for all this I’d sack the lot of them .
The original idea of the Fonterra merger was to strengthen the export of consumer products so NZ captured the value added. Instead they’ve exported commodities and wasted money building up production in other countries to compete with the locals and well as building processing plants there?
Remember the $100m plus factory they lost control of in China – which is still there under local control now. Great gift from the NZ farmers.
Yep why sell milk powder for peanuts when you could be adding value and creating jobs) by converting into higher value items and making a much higher return and improving supply chain in those areas? Or Jump on the organics growing at an enormous rate of growth in consumer demand.
Nope apparently organic milk farmers get the same price as conventional milk through Fonterra (although the consumer has to pay a lot more for it).
A whistle-blower comes forward with an accusation of widespread market rigging (possibly involving billions of dollars over several years) and some would rather talk about the rugby?
Evidently, a number of citizens don’t care. And if we don’t care, surely we can’t expect anyone to act.
Carry on, nothing to see here. New episode of The Block starting next week. Red Peak anyone?
Hopefully, Little and Shaw are done talking about the flag, Green and Labour supporters are over Red Peak and their little tiff, so perhaps now we can work together and focus on the issues that really matter.
the nation shows our favorite wee dirty political rat in action – the ‘sick right’ in all its glory – spin like dirty shit water going down the toilet matty – you have never fooled me.
Totalitarianism Watch:
The assault on free speech in American universities continues.
by GLENN GREENWALD, The Intercept, 25 September 2015
There is no shortage of American pundits who love to denounce “PC” speech codes that restrict and punish the expression of certain ideas on college campuses. What these self-styled campus-free-speech crusaders typically — and quite tellingly — fail to mention is that the most potent such campaigns are often devoted to outlawing or otherwise punishing criticisms of Israel. The firing by the University of Illinois of Professor Steven Salatia for his “uncivil” denunciations of the Israeli war on Gaza — a termination that was privately condoned by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin — is merely illustrative of this long–growing trend.
One of the most dangerous threats to campus free speech has been emerging at the highest levels of the University of California system, the sprawling collection of 10 campuses that includes UCLA and UC Berkeley. The university’s governing Board of Regents, with the support of University President Janet Napolitano and egged on by the state’s legislature, has been attempting to adopt new speech codes that — in the name of combating “anti-Semitism” — would formally ban various forms of Israel criticism and anti-Israel activism.
Under the most stringent such regulations, students found to be in violation of these codes would face suspension or expulsion. In July, it appeared that the Regents were poised to enact the most extreme version, but decided instead to push the decision off until September, when they instead would adopt non-binding guidelines to define “hate speech” and “intolerance.”
One of the Regents most vocally advocating for the most stringent version of the speech code is Richard Blum, the multi-millionaire defense contractor who is married to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. At a Regents meeting last week, reported the Los Angeles Times, Blum expressly threatened that Feinstein would publicly denounce the university if it failed to adopt far more stringent standards than the ones it appeared to be considering, and specifically demanded they be binding and contain punishments for students found to be in violation.
“We are living in a competitive world and people cannot be selfless, they have to be selfish. But the good news is that this is soft-wired and can be changed. Prayer, selfless service and meditation is the place to start.”
Ulluwishewa speaks with surety and with passion. His goal is to help people achieve transformation, individually and for a greater good. Through his studies he has noted a trend with people moving away from selfishness.
“People are now beginning to understand the consequences of consumerism and there are people that appreciate a simple life. The world is changing, the new spiritual revolution is coming from Western countries. One thing is that people are seeking happiness.”
And the question is there, does God exist? Ulluwishewa says that religion and being spiritual don’t have to mean that you believe in a God sitting on a cloud.
The next day, Shehi and the baby went home, and someone from the Department of Human Resources, the state child welfare agency, paid a visit. In recent years, Alabama authorities have been aggressive about removing newborns from the custody of mothers who abuse drugs, typically placing a baby with a relative or foster family under a safety plan that can continue for months or years. The social worker listened to Shehi and Sharpe’s story and concluded that theirs wasn’t one of those situations. “She said: ‘I understand the pain you are in, and I understand what’s going on. I won’t take the baby away,’ ” Sharpe recalled.
But one morning a few weeks later, when Shehi was back at her job in a nursing home and the baby was with a sitter, investigators from the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office showed up at the front desk with a warrant. She had been charged with “knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally” causing her baby to be exposed to controlled substances in the womb – a felony punishable in her case by up to 10 years in prison. The investigators led her to an unmarked car, handcuffed her and took her to jail.
Key and his ignorance really has to go ,everyday theres some cock up or another coming from this govt
Hes like a permanent state of stupidity like Muldoon over the springbok tour in the 80s
Can anyone seriously see him as leading this country as I for one wouldnt buy into any of what he makes us endure
Chaos for the young
Insecurity for the old
Fascist allegiance in the workplace and govt
No moral compass or understanding of the damage war does which makes him the epitome of the saying
Was going to quote something but what suits Key is “Hes a Bloody Fascist”
Well the only conclusion now is that the crown know they have no case against dotcom. So far two days of public grandstanding. So far not one shred of actual evidence of any actual crime. They up to page 50 of 250. So i guess they reckon that after ten more days of breathless exposure of sinppits drawn sans context from years of communications, we will all be convinced and the judge will be swayed by public opinion. Well i suppose its a plan when they have nothing else! good old tvnz helping with their multiple references to the “co-conspiretors” and assigning reporter who is totally ignorant of the technical details. But maby the lawyers at Sony who advised them not to participate in the action knew what they were about. We may have to forgo the pandas for a few years untill the public purse recovers.
EARTH to Co-leader Metiria Turei – ARE YOU RECEIVING? – OVER…..
I repeat ….
EARTH to Co-leader Metiria Turei – ARE YOU RECEIVING? – OVER…..
State your position please ….. over
Control to Green Squad – no response – should we send out a rescue?
Green squad to Control – yea/nah, hold off – coLeader Jimmy’s running the options
STANDBY
The State may try to stop some families having more children
Tolley acknowledged it would be a “huge step” for the state to start telling people that they could not have another child, but said it was “a conversation that New Zealanders, perhaps, need to have”.
Tolley did not rule out limiting or preventing some families from having another child, but said she would wait to see what the panel recommended in December.
It looks suspiciously like another distraction: Tory scum kill children with their blithering incompetence and vile prejudice, then pretend that the victims are asking for it.
Tories are walking adverts for post-natal abortion.
It’s a smokescreen: the trash need something to distract from their policies manslaughter, so they let Anne Tolley run her mouth, everyone gets excited, the manslaughter gets pushed down today’s list of headlines.
The Sabinist wing of the National Party will support anything that promises to legitimise their sick fantasies. They’re useful as a distraction, and nothing else: National’s owner/donors won’t fund the civil war they crave.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say that as long as it is done through educating and making it free to all then offering contraception to people at the troubled end of society is a good thing .
Part and parcel of the right wing self-serving lie that poverty is inevitable. That’s what it is. Wait, there’s more: it moves beyond victim-blaming into violence.
Anyone who collaborates in this vile fascism needs to be extradited to The Hague for human rights violations.
I did notice there was nothing said about getting men the chop .
Its cheaper easy and some of the drop kicks I’ve known that think its neat having kids all over the place would probably jump at it for a easy $10 k.
Just for the record I am totally opposed to forced sterilization.
What man slaughter are you on about ??
The two fallas i was thinking about are not victims and there not even that bad a people but they a boys in men’s bodies ,who don’t think that if the have a child they should care for them.
See if you can figure it out: why on Earth would anyone describe the National Party’s social and economic policies as manslaughter? Why oh why? Perhaps it’s all the deaths they cause.
Just another piece of fascist control by the Fuhrer state
If you cant afford kids you state should have the right to control you why should the rich support the poor blah blah and all the rest of it
Yeah right 2 crispies with your cuppa Ann? give me strength
“Last week’s announcement that Saudi Arabia — easily one of the world’s most brutally repressive regimes — was chosen to head a U.N. Human Rights Council panel provoked indignation around the world. That reaction was triggered for obvious reasons. Not only has Saudi Arabia executed more than 100 people already this year, mostly by beheading (a rate of 1 execution every two days), and not only is it serially flogging dissidents, but it is reaching new levels of tyrannical depravity as it is about to behead and then crucify the 21-year-old son of a prominent regime critic, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was convicted at the age of 17 of engaging in demonstrations against the government.”
This is not the story we are told. Instead we read story after story like this latest one from the Guardian, claiming that 140 years of job creation show that jobs will always be created. And yet the ongoing trend of such articles is to mostly ignore the potentially unnecessary nature of the jobs themselves, the level of skill involved to perform them, and the lower pay they can command than the jobs they are replacing. Take for example the following excerpt:
Their conclusion is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs.
So there’s no need to worry about technological unemployment, because there will always be a need for more bar-backs and haircuts? Is that bar-back better off no longer having a manufacturing job paying $40,000 per year and instead having a job paying $20,000 per year in the service industry? Is that an important job to the human species, bringing empty glasses from Point A to Point B? Is the job entirely voluntary or done out of need for income? And is this a job that just can’t possibly be done by a machine, or outright eliminated? Ever? Is the service industry really safe?
Those who moved into optimal jobs showed significant improvement in mental health compared to those who remained unemployed. Those respondents who moved into poor-quality jobs showed a significant worsening in their mental health compared to those who remained unemployed.
So, getting people off of unemployment does help them but only if it’s a good job otherwise it’s doing them harm. Something else this government should be charged with.
When you have the US and European governments now say, they want to talk with and keep this man in power for a transition time, I can confidently say, the “west” has totally lost the plot and is prepared to make deals with the worst of other parties there are:
This will give both Nusra Front and ISIS the perfect reason to recruit even more disillusioned to join the war, and also to have bombs blow up in places in “the west”. How stupid is “the west”, how damned ignorant are Obama, Merkel and others, they are digging their own graves, I fear.
“The west” is the Roman Empire of modern days, and its empire is numbered by days. l also have NO time for Putin and his agenda, who some here seem to support, it is pure madness, what is going on. Denial is the rule of the day, prepare for the worst.
Another interview with western media, where a ruthless dictator defends himself and his military and police, I cannot believe, that European governments, the US and so want to talk with those supporting him:
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Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
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As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
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http://www.norightturn.blogspot.co.nz
On Monday, Fonterra announced another round of job cuts, bringing layoffs to 750 for the year. Yesterday, their annual financial figures showed us why: profits were up, but revenue was down 15%, suggesting next year will be worse. So naturally, today we learn that their boss has given himself an 18% pay rise:
Fonterra’s chief executive received a pay rise of up to $770,000 last year, despite struggling milk prices and hundreds of his staff losing their jobs.
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings’ salary for the year to July 31 was between $4.93 million and $4.94 million, it was revealed in the company’s annual result on Thursday.
That’s up to 18 per cent more then what he was paid in the year to July 31, 2014, pushing his hourly take home wage up to $1595.
New Zealand’s adult minimum wage is $14.75.
It would take someone on minimum wage more than two weeks work to earn what Spierings makes in an hour.
Or 26 years to earn his pay rise.
Sack lots of people. Make less money. Watch your shareholder / suppliers go to the wall due to low prices. Clearly that’s the sort of performance which demands a boatload of cash.
We often find advocates of CEO pay increases are quick to justify such increases while also being rather good at expressing why common wages should stay down.
The sad thing, is that Fonterra is a co -operative – the profits are supposed to be returned to the farmers. Instead they have this imported CEO who specialises in Mergers (why not value added services which is where fonterra should be going) and has got the farmers going into debt with low milk payouts, putting Kiwi workers on the dole with job cuts, while awarding himself a massive pay rise, when turnover is DOWN (not a good sign in a business) and probably lower taxes to the government. WELL DONE NOT!
Send him a message Fonterra farmers and employees and the public!
Evidently, with the ever increasing growth in CEO salaries, we’re OK with it.
Little will change unless a good number make it an issue.
+100 saveNZ
+100 Ditto
However “The sad thing is, that Fonterra is a co-operative….”
It’s a co-operative that’s been buggerised and buggerised by those highly paid ‘leaders’ (ahem) who tempted its members by allowing them to flog off returns for short term gain when times are good (as I understand it).
Paula Bennett was in Indonesia Sept 8th opening another new fonterror plant….
Here is the link http://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/hub+sites/news+and+media/media+releases/fonterra+opens+manufacturing+facility+in+indonesia/fonterra+opens+manufacturing+facility+in+indonesia
The farmers have one of those “one remove” closed governance systems where they vote for a committee who sort out the directors don’t they? Just a closed loop really.
Frankly if you have 17 people paid over a $1m and they didn’t prepare for all this I’d sack the lot of them .
The original idea of the Fonterra merger was to strengthen the export of consumer products so NZ captured the value added. Instead they’ve exported commodities and wasted money building up production in other countries to compete with the locals and well as building processing plants there?
Remember the $100m plus factory they lost control of in China – which is still there under local control now. Great gift from the NZ farmers.
Yep why sell milk powder for peanuts when you could be adding value and creating jobs) by converting into higher value items and making a much higher return and improving supply chain in those areas? Or Jump on the organics growing at an enormous rate of growth in consumer demand.
Nope apparently organic milk farmers get the same price as conventional milk through Fonterra (although the consumer has to pay a lot more for it).
J
“A cultural failure, at a management level.”
A banking insider says some New Zealand banks made up to $1.5 million a day manipulating inter-bank interest rates.
Widespread rigging of the benchmark inter-bank BKBM rate, mirroring Europe’s Libor (London Inter-bank Offered Rate) scandal that rocked markets worldwide.
Sources claim manipulation in New Zealand dated from the 1990s.
“Over 20 years, we’re probably talking about billions of dollars”
But no domestic regulator has ever launched an investigation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/72422535/banks-accused-of-raterigging-ripoff
A whistle-blower comes forward with an accusation of widespread market rigging (possibly involving billions of dollars over several years) and some would rather talk about the rugby?
Evidently, a number of citizens don’t care. And if we don’t care, surely we can’t expect anyone to act.
Carry on, nothing to see here. New episode of The Block starting next week. Red Peak anyone?
Hang on a minute….wasn’t Our Leader a big mover and shaker in the sector during this time?
Whew!
Luckily there is waay more important shit to occupy the minds of the nation….
Hopefully, Little and Shaw are done talking about the flag, Green and Labour supporters are over Red Peak and their little tiff, so perhaps now we can work together and focus on the issues that really matter.
Perhaps Shaw will see its actually quite easy to work with Key and will do so on matters that make sense.
Has a lot more chance to make a difference with the government that the perpetual opposition.
Considering the backlash, I think Shaw will think twice before working with National again.
Moreover, on more pressing matters, there would be little (if anything) where the two (National/Greens) would agree what the sensible approach is.
Wales has beaten England 28-25. Wow! Leeks among the Roses.
Brilliant, go for the seven and lose.
the nation shows our favorite wee dirty political rat in action – the ‘sick right’ in all its glory – spin like dirty shit water going down the toilet matty – you have never fooled me.
Totalitarianism Watch:
The assault on free speech in American universities continues.
by GLENN GREENWALD, The Intercept, 25 September 2015
There is no shortage of American pundits who love to denounce “PC” speech codes that restrict and punish the expression of certain ideas on college campuses. What these self-styled campus-free-speech crusaders typically — and quite tellingly — fail to mention is that the most potent such campaigns are often devoted to outlawing or otherwise punishing criticisms of Israel. The firing by the University of Illinois of Professor Steven Salatia for his “uncivil” denunciations of the Israeli war on Gaza — a termination that was privately condoned by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin — is merely illustrative of this long–growing trend.
One of the most dangerous threats to campus free speech has been emerging at the highest levels of the University of California system, the sprawling collection of 10 campuses that includes UCLA and UC Berkeley. The university’s governing Board of Regents, with the support of University President Janet Napolitano and egged on by the state’s legislature, has been attempting to adopt new speech codes that — in the name of combating “anti-Semitism” — would formally ban various forms of Israel criticism and anti-Israel activism.
Under the most stringent such regulations, students found to be in violation of these codes would face suspension or expulsion. In July, it appeared that the Regents were poised to enact the most extreme version, but decided instead to push the decision off until September, when they instead would adopt non-binding guidelines to define “hate speech” and “intolerance.”
One of the Regents most vocally advocating for the most stringent version of the speech code is Richard Blum, the multi-millionaire defense contractor who is married to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. At a Regents meeting last week, reported the Los Angeles Times, Blum expressly threatened that Feinstein would publicly denounce the university if it failed to adopt far more stringent standards than the ones it appeared to be considering, and specifically demanded they be binding and contain punishments for students found to be in violation.
Read more…
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/25/dianne-feinstein-husband-threaten-univ-calif-demanding-ban-excessive-israel-criticism/
Nasa to announce major science finding from Mars on Tuesday.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announce-mars-mystery-solved
… no coincidence that it’s two days before the release date of the Ridley Scott-directed The Martian.
That’s the highly rated film starring Matt Damon, in which he has to “Science the shit out of everything” in order to stay alive on Mars.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_martian/
The previews look pretty good.
Read the book last year. Incredible reading with maps inside the cover.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_(Weir_novel)
Sounds like a remake (I have seen a movie with a similar theme but can’t recall its name).
I enjoyed this read:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/72248814/Palmerston-North-author-demystifies-spirituality
And the US takes one more step towards the scenario outlined in The handmaid’s Tale:
Shocking
Key and his ignorance really has to go ,everyday theres some cock up or another coming from this govt
Hes like a permanent state of stupidity like Muldoon over the springbok tour in the 80s
Can anyone seriously see him as leading this country as I for one wouldnt buy into any of what he makes us endure
Chaos for the young
Insecurity for the old
Fascist allegiance in the workplace and govt
No moral compass or understanding of the damage war does which makes him the epitome of the saying
Was going to quote something but what suits Key is “Hes a Bloody Fascist”
Kentucky politician claims he has a Constitutional right to receive gifts from lobbyists
If only Rodney “Perk-taker” Hide and John “Separate Cheques” Banks had thought of this brilliant scheme….
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/24/state-senator-files-lawsuit-says-ban-lobbyist-gifts-violates-freedom-speech/
Well the only conclusion now is that the crown know they have no case against dotcom. So far two days of public grandstanding. So far not one shred of actual evidence of any actual crime. They up to page 50 of 250. So i guess they reckon that after ten more days of breathless exposure of sinppits drawn sans context from years of communications, we will all be convinced and the judge will be swayed by public opinion. Well i suppose its a plan when they have nothing else! good old tvnz helping with their multiple references to the “co-conspiretors” and assigning reporter who is totally ignorant of the technical details. But maby the lawyers at Sony who advised them not to participate in the action knew what they were about. We may have to forgo the pandas for a few years untill the public purse recovers.
EARTH to Co-leader Metiria Turei – ARE YOU RECEIVING? – OVER…..
I repeat ….
EARTH to Co-leader Metiria Turei – ARE YOU RECEIVING? – OVER…..
State your position please ….. over
Control to Green Squad – no response – should we send out a rescue?
Green squad to Control – yea/nah, hold off – coLeader Jimmy’s running the options
STANDBY
Yes, becoming a worry….
Read somewhere she’ s overseas at a convention or on some fact finding mission. Whatever, she’s not in the country.
Make the world a better place.
Forcibly sterilise a Tory.
Was just looking at that.
The State may try to stop some families having more children
Tolley acknowledged it would be a “huge step” for the state to start telling people that they could not have another child, but said it was “a conversation that New Zealanders, perhaps, need to have”.
Tolley did not rule out limiting or preventing some families from having another child, but said she would wait to see what the panel recommended in December.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72451962/state-may-try-to-stop-some-families-having-more-children
Thoughts?
It looks suspiciously like another distraction: Tory scum kill children with their blithering incompetence and vile prejudice, then pretend that the victims are asking for it.
Tories are walking adverts for post-natal abortion.
Scorn was poured upon former ACT MP David Garrett’s suggestion that bad parents be offered a fiscal incentive to get sterilised.
Wonder if Tolley will face the same disdain?
It’s a smokescreen: the trash need something to distract from their
policiesmanslaughter, so they let Anne Tolley run her mouth, everyone gets excited, the manslaughter gets pushed down today’s list of headlines.Alternatively, it’s another attempt to test the waters (to see if the public attitude has changed) and air the sterilization issue again.
The Sabinist wing of the National Party will support anything that promises to legitimise their sick fantasies. They’re useful as a distraction, and nothing else: National’s owner/donors won’t fund the civil war they crave.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say that as long as it is done through educating and making it free to all then offering contraception to people at the troubled end of society is a good thing .
yeah beginning with Garret..but charge him-
No on second thoughts, I’ll pay.
Part and parcel of the right wing self-serving lie that poverty is inevitable. That’s what it is. Wait, there’s more: it moves beyond victim-blaming into violence.
Anyone who collaborates in this vile fascism needs to be extradited to The Hague for human rights violations.
It’s time to get tough on Tory scum.
We already do that (education and provide free contraceptives).
Tolley is suggesting we go further, a discussion on forced sterilization.
How horrible.
The Nazis did this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics
Eugenics was also popular in NZ’s past history and still has a following today.
I did notice there was nothing said about getting men the chop .
Its cheaper easy and some of the drop kicks I’ve known that think its neat having kids all over the place would probably jump at it for a easy $10 k.
Just for the record I am totally opposed to forced sterilization.
Yes, you’d never actually do the manslaughter yourself. You just go in for a bit of supportive victim-blaming.
What man slaughter are you on about ??
The two fallas i was thinking about are not victims and there not even that bad a people but they a boys in men’s bodies ,who don’t think that if the have a child they should care for them.
See if you can figure it out: why on Earth would anyone describe the National Party’s social and economic policies as manslaughter? Why oh why? Perhaps it’s all the deaths they cause.
Just another piece of fascist control by the Fuhrer state
If you cant afford kids you state should have the right to control you why should the rich support the poor blah blah and all the rest of it
Yeah right 2 crispies with your cuppa Ann? give me strength
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/23/u-s-state-department-welcomes-news-close-ally-saudi-arabia-chosen-head-u-n-human-rights-council-panel/
“Last week’s announcement that Saudi Arabia — easily one of the world’s most brutally repressive regimes — was chosen to head a U.N. Human Rights Council panel provoked indignation around the world. That reaction was triggered for obvious reasons. Not only has Saudi Arabia executed more than 100 people already this year, mostly by beheading (a rate of 1 execution every two days), and not only is it serially flogging dissidents, but it is reaching new levels of tyrannical depravity as it is about to behead and then crucify the 21-year-old son of a prominent regime critic, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was convicted at the age of 17 of engaging in demonstrations against the government.”
we have become bizarro world.
+100
Everything You Think You Know About the History and Future of Jobs Is Likely Wrong
Otherwise known as the Rise of Bullshit Jobs.
Oh, and this bit:
So, getting people off of unemployment does help them but only if it’s a good job otherwise it’s doing them harm. Something else this government should be charged with.
when we are all baristas will anyone buy a coffee?
Nope, won’t be able to afford to.
Besides, baristas will be replaced by automated coffee dispensing stations.
that is post barista saturation society
When you have the US and European governments now say, they want to talk with and keep this man in power for a transition time, I can confidently say, the “west” has totally lost the plot and is prepared to make deals with the worst of other parties there are:
This will give both Nusra Front and ISIS the perfect reason to recruit even more disillusioned to join the war, and also to have bombs blow up in places in “the west”. How stupid is “the west”, how damned ignorant are Obama, Merkel and others, they are digging their own graves, I fear.
“The west” is the Roman Empire of modern days, and its empire is numbered by days. l also have NO time for Putin and his agenda, who some here seem to support, it is pure madness, what is going on. Denial is the rule of the day, prepare for the worst.
Another interview with western media, where a ruthless dictator defends himself and his military and police, I cannot believe, that European governments, the US and so want to talk with those supporting him:
More lies, lies and endless lies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2J33PIAQ1k
I fear this will be the answer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQI3EGN04r4
Shocking the ignorance of those in power and control, I give up hope for the future of humanity.