It’s not so much about making a stand – if they didn’t turn up who would notice? But by turning up they lose the legitimacy to take on the government for selling out workers and the country. It makes it seem they’re in for the goodies and were just complaining for the sake of it.
The word “principle” remains in the Greens vocabulary, but regrettably, it is a word that frightens numbers of politicians even if they do understand it.
They are the only party who seem to care about sexual abuse support services too.
Here is another reason to Vote Green, this time the evil TPPA which most media are silent on (a notable exception was TV 3’s Think Tank, Kia Ora for that JT:
Likely results of TPPA:
* Undermining of workers rights
* Taking People’s Power Away, especially the government (as the government cannot pass laws that disadvantage trans-national companies, the right for the investors in these companies able to sue our government if they pass laws that disadvantage them)
* Surrender of our economic sovereignty to trans-national companies.
The new Ed Hilary? For making quite a few excellent movies, as opposed to climbing Everest and being a lifelong philanthropist and all around good guy who stayed mostly out of politics and will provide an excellent example to youngsters for years to come. To compare those two shows you are grasping at straws. I don’t think I ever want to see someone on a banknote for just making a movie.
Sort out a real example of he is the next of, then come back and talk with the grown ups buddy.
He’s the most famous NZ out there at the moment.
Ask any one in the country and most of the world who Peter Jackson is and I’d be surprised if they’d never heard of him.
Everything you hear about Jackson is positive, the movies he made, the jobs and opportunities he’s created, etc, for many many people the guy is a real inspiration, came from a humble back ground to being one of the most powerful movie directors in the world.
You’d have to be a complete fucking idiot to think your on to a winning strategy attacking the man,
That makes him the new Ed Hillary, has nothing to do climbing mountains or giving away money, bozo
Really?? I was not attacking him in any way, just pointing out that your comparison is off by a fair way, Ed Hilary has had a far larger impact on NZ life and identity than Peter Jackson has at this time. In time he could very well take the place of Kate Shepard or Ed Hilary on one of our bank notes, but not now.
His scaremongering was smoke and mirrors on behalf of big money, why can’t our film actors have decent work conditions? [enter Planet Key line here]
And benefits financially from being the member of at least 3 different unions, including the screenwriters guild.
At the same time he prevents NZ workers from getting similar protections and benefits from unions.
Basically he’s hypocritical scum more interested in adding to his half billion horde and getting bonuses from Corporate Hollywood, than giving NZ actors the same treatment as foreign actors working here.
Nz competitive advantage in films comes in part its de-unionized film industry, so of course National wanted to stamp its brand on giving the Hobbit more money due to the high dollar which was likely to have killed off the Hobbit movie. But National media buddies can’t say that either less other industries want handouts for the high dollar. So it all gets quite creepy how the media, government and even critics tippy toes around the issues.
Its not the only news story like that, you could say media is more story than news in NZ.
Take the policy of Labour in not fighting for kiwis in OZ, where kiwi and aussie tax payers would fund welfare just for aussies. And no, its not about the much smaller proportion of Australians on welfare in NZ that got the Australians uppity, since Australians working in NZ would be paying into welfare for both Australians and Kiwis, since they bring back their money to OZ and not staying to go on welfare!!! All in all it was just the NZ Labor government that wanted to lower wages in NZ by making it harder to move across to OZ. Its a stupid policy because the whole point of open borders is to help both countries reach multiplier effects, fancy that, NZ back stabbing kiwis at home and in OZ just to ???for what??? so that NZ Labour could justify beanie bashing. But even that did not make sense, since it takes money, risk, to jump the ditch to look for work, and then to have NZ government turn around and say they moved over there to get on welfare, that’s just stupid, what proprtion of people moved to Australia to become bums??? The real problem in OZ was that there was systemic discrimination against pacific looking people because Australia has a long history of institutionalize racism.
And so why don’t we talk about that? Because our media elite are a bunch of feckless arsewipes indoctrinated into the belief that to say anything adverse about people in the limelight (over a serious issue is forbidden). That’s why Nz turd blossums are so excessive and ubiquitious.
All in all it was just the NZ Labor government that wanted to lower wages in NZ by making it harder to move across to OZ. Its a stupid policy because the whole point of open borders is to help both countries reach multiplier effects, fancy that, NZ back stabbing kiwis at home and in OZ just to ???for what???
I think you’re way off the beam there aerobubble. There are various reasons that Labour could have considered when not making too much of a fuss but I don’t think that forcing down labour costs was one of them.
But you agree that the policy, by making it hard to move to OZ, would increase pressure on Kiwis to take less well paying jobs (and increase the pool of people working in NZ)?
I can not read Helen Clarks mind any better than you, I have to say its pretty obvious
something was amiss, systemic racism against pacific looking peoples would naturally
carry over into the Maori Kiwi population in Australia, raising their prospects of claiming
welfare. The NZ instead of supporting their citizens in NZ, Labour some how got the
Australian government to ignore that patently obvious, that Kiwi’s working in the NZ
economy would be supporting welfare for Australians but not themselves, that somehow
Kiwi’s employed and worked owed some duty to other kiwis (to invoke personal responsibility
on kiwis who moved to Australia to pull their fingers out).
So it was way off beam of me for me to consider that Labour would have not considered
the effects of the policy on the NZ economy and wages, that by increasing the disincentives to moving over the ditch, they were dealing to the skills drought at home (where companies are unwilling to lift wages but rather want governments to intervene on their behalf to drive down wages).
We did not get huge debts because people willing took them on, they took them on because wages weren’t keeping up and governments were reducing the cost of borrowing money while dumbing down the housing industry to stimulate a boom in housing prices. People thought they were richer, they could loosen their borrowing belts as they had more capital, all due to both Labour and National working against the interests of kiwis in NZ, and now it looks like in Australia TOO!
I don’t think having a decent opposition would have helped, from what I’ve read this has been pretty much a MOE run project with very little input from the Minister
That makes me very angry. This is public money, paid to public servants. It isn’t ok to try and claim that minister’s are not responsible regards of how little input THE MINISTER DECIDED to have or not have.
Avoiding media is the ultimate insult that a minister for any portfolio can make. I hope that the media (specifically Campbell Live) start to give substantial air time to opposition MP’s to talk about the issues.
We have great leaders in this country – as long as they refuse to read or be told about anything, and avoid making any decisions, they can’t be held accountable for incompetence in the ministry that they’ve mismanaged.
a complete change in payroll provider…. yeah what kind of Minister would have any kind of interest in ensuring that their Ministry employees would be getting paid properly
Tolley and Parata completely failed to oversee the process for four straight years. An abject failure to ask even the most simple questions about a complete system change in the child education sector. Akin to a captain failing to ask the navigator where the ship is going and whether those rocky shoals are in the way.
But a Labour guy signed the original contract with an experienced vendor so it’s Labour’s fault?
So if I build a perfectly fine car, sell it to you, and you pull donuts, over-rev it and refuse to do any maintenance, the flat tyre or other failure that occurs years later is my fault?
It’s getting a bit late to still keep blaming Labour, BM. Sooner or later you’ll have to face the fact that the shit-pudding the ministers are splashing around the cabinet table is of their own making.
In defence of Carter, Tolley and Parata I doubt any of them has anything but rudimentary computer knowledge(shame Claire Curran wasn’t available at the time),
So no doubt they were relying pretty heavily on the MOE to do the job properly and take care of the technical side of this development.
My (large) employer runs Talent2 payroll system with no problems.
Yeah, keep trying to blame Labour.
It’s not computer literacy that’s the issue, it’s management literacy. Upgrading systems isn’t like buying groceries at the supermarket. The person in charge needs to constantly monitor activity, ask questions about how it will work in practise, and if it looks like a system won’t be ready in time or is unsuited (as apparently was the case prior to rollout) have the guts to postpone full implementation.
Talent2 are perfectly capable of developing payroll systems, but they’re private enterprise: if the specs are inadequate and the oversight is poor, they will do the minimum amount possible for the maximum amount of money.
If Carter had indeed signed with a company that was incapable of delivering, then a competent minister would have had this reported to them by a competent CEO, and they would have cancelled the contract, sued for damages due to inadequate work, and tendered someone else to do the job.
But no – the system is rolled out even when the test phase failed dismally.
LOL – all this illustrates is the continuity of the agenda, and how stupid people attempt to ignore it.
BM is spot on, Chris Carter , easily one of the most compromised mps ever, used to sign up novo, while his arm was up his back!
Labour signed it up, National ran with it…its the standard M.O!
How to know Carter was bent, other than his ripping off Kiwi taxpayers, and still is now – He went to work for the UN, where only the most crooked end up..
So Professor Claire Robinson has found evidence of bias in the presentation of leaders Key and Goff in last year’s general election. Apparently Key had more favorable text and photos than Goff. The Herald’s bias was particularly noticeable.
Labour deliberately played down Goff and his image (no pics on billboards) while the nats built their campaign almost solely on key, which labour supported by targeting his character.
Maybe its just a case of You reap the headlines and images you sow
That might explain fewer items of coverage, but the images of Key also tended to be larger than those of Goff. So I don’t think that really jibes as an explanation.
research is necessary, otherwise it’s just anecdata vs anecdata.
Key can counter an opinion with his opinion. When he counters actual research with his opinion, he looks like a wee bit of a dick to a few more voters every time.
I’m not anti shearer or pro cunliffe and it didn’t raise a smile, but I suppose it’s as funny as all the it’s okay to lie cos it’s just marketing coming from dunnokeyo
the question is why debate the sharing out of a paltry public transport budget when the real issue is that NZ should be committing 10 times as much to these projects and would still win hands down in the long run
True Story: Once were warriors.
lovely maori man actively seeking work.regularly rings up former boss who keeps him hanging…
through word of mouth, at church, is led to and offered a position operating a waste removal truck
(not a Love Removal Machine, Edie).
Persevering with a very grubby occupation this man walks with God.
Two phenomena become apparent to him;
1, he is treated rudely and dominated for expressing his Christian faith
2, entrenched racially biased attitudes (rednecks).
anyway, he relates to me how following difficulties with equipment (stone blocked pump) there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth by the Boss; this is during his 4th week, yet once task learned
problem solved
Following day, called back to work after departing for home, and let go with the excuse that they
“didn’t want a labourer”
(interestingly, they continue to employ a “mate” in his sixties who is unable to achieve relative
productivity due to life-style health complications).
Now, because I was unsettled during my earlier years and over the course of my employment history
I have worked in and observed the cultural environments of a wide range of fields,
from digging ditches to occupational therapy and many things in between.
If NAct and the mainstream employers think that what passes for general employment culture in
Aotearoa is acceptable, then they are dreaming. Even at Watties, they are screwing the unions, and
no amount of “food fucker” (excuse my french) is going to take away the greasy taste.
U think you know me? I am an ethnographer. I know you. Stop fighting yourself=Embrace Others
Child Poverty Action Group says a ground-breaking documentary on child poverty in New Zealand is compulsory viewing for all New Zealanders.
Multi-award winning producer and presenter Bryan Bruce’s Inside Child Poverty documentary will re-screen on TV3 tonight at 9.30pm.
CPAG spokesperson, Associate Professor Mike O’Brien said,
“We are delighted that TV3 is re-screening this documentary. It has played a significant role in raising the issue of child poverty in New Zealand. We believe it is a must-see for all New Zealanders.
“As the documentary says, New Zealanders are good people and we can fix this problem if we choose to. No child in New Zealand should be hungry, cold or ill due to preventable disease.
Child poverty is not a party political issue; it is a moral and ethical issue. Our politicians need to know that New Zealanders do want to invest in children and their future.”
Featured in the documentary is CPAG’s ongoing fight for the rights of 230,000 children through legal channels.
On the whole the interim report is highly disappointing, weak, disjointed and not very thorough. Unfortunately the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment omits some very relevant and important aspects to the fracking debate and cherry-picks what information is included. Jan Wright also seems to think that a moratorium on fracking isn’t required because the oil and gas industry will somehow magically clean up its act… Yeah right!
Walkabout (film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout_(film)
anyway,
off I went into town. Now if the neo-liberal wannabees think they are pulling the wool over the
general public’s eyes, they have got another thing coming, unless they are cushioned in some cacoon
of silk spun by the low and working classes.It is all about synthesizing corresponding information; in
addition, to the MSM fog you check out the alternative press. Then, check out a bit of audio-visual
and check with the people on the ground (if the politicians think that people who opine on blogs are
not representative of the wider consensus of aware people, then more fool them; I personally know heaps of people, although I do tend to avoid the middle class and above).Like, just in the Supermarket I had conversations with three people who know me and a few more that I now know 🙂
First, to correlate with MSM report on budget rationalisations at DHB, receptionist, (who has learned more about efficiency and IT in a year than the NAct government departments appear to have in a couple of terms) reported deficiencies in Doctor funding and utilisation disrupting service delivery.
Second, at my second favourite, second hand bookshop, I had a spontaneous chat with the owner.
S. is widely read and has a family with 3 teenage children (loves the Russian writers also, Pasternak
participantly-observed torture during the Soviet years from a small closet).S reads the guardian and
comments regularly; I have introduced her to the concept of The Standard and she is going to check
it out (remember human motivations?) trinity is one, just culture.
anyway, we got to discussing the times and she was in 100% concurrence that the capitalism project
has reached it’s use-by-date according to a wide range of sources; it has floundered and beached; Beached as Bro’!
S. also was in agreement with the insidious role played by MSM in shaping personal culture and her
family had found and benefited from discarding the television. I asked her about her opinion of JM
who was presently on RNZ; couldn’t be botherd with him she asserted.
Yesterday afternoon on Newstalk zb charities were discussed. A woman from New York emailed in and said that the Mayor of New York would not accept food donations because of the salt content.
I cannot think of a valid reason for not accepting non perishable food donations and would like to know what the reason is.
Possibly could be sued were the blood pressure to rise.
If the woman was taking the piss out of the topic I have been taken in.
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Right now low waged and insecure workers are feeling the economic brunt of the looming #Covid19 Recession. In response legal advocate Toby Cooper* and hospitality and worker’s rights advocate Chloe Ann-King, are putting together a series of legal blogs about your employment rights:In this legal blog we outline some ...
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It is said that generals fight the last war. In the case of the early stages of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) they had learned from the Great Depression of the 1930s and they fought intelligently and successfully. Later their advice would be ignored in favour of the Austerians who ...
Solidarity Forever: All over the world, the arrival of the Covid-19 virus has exposed the fragility of the walls we erect around ourselves and our loved ones. It has shattered our illusions of autonomy and revealed to us how utterly dependent we all are on other human-beings. Finally, we see ...
Looking across the various arguments for/against the leading candidates to take the Democratic Nomination, you might honestly be very hard pressed to tell. There are a number of things that have now started happening since Amy Klobuchar and “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg both threw the towel in and immediately (and ...
by Daphna Whitmore Abortion is no longer in the Crimes Act in New Zealand. The law reform passed yesterday and now abortion is a medical matter between a woman and her doctor. Many women’s groups and progressive people have campaigned for reform for decades. The women’s liberation movement and some ...
Doug Specht, University of Westminster and Julio Gimenez, University of Westminster When fake news, misreporting and alternative facts are everywhere, reading the news can be a challenge. Not only is there plenty of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other scientific topics floating around social media, you also ...
Michael Baker, University of Otago and Nick Wilson, University of OtagoWith some of the toughest border restrictions and a newly-announced NZ$500 million boost to health services, New Zealand is among a small number of countries with a strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand is also fortunate in ...
As expected, the government has introduced a sessional order to allow Parliament to operate during the pandemic. You can read it on the Order Paper here, but the short version is that questions and motions can be filed electronicly, select committees can work remotely, and the the Business Committee can ...
Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology; Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology; Timothy Graham, Queensland University of Technology, and Tobias R. Keller, Queensland University of Technology News and views about coronavirus has spread via social media in a way that no health emergency has done before. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, ...
So you’ve recently returned from overseas, come into contact with someone who tested positive, got a bit of a dry cough yourself or perhaps just want to self isolate for 14 days to avoid other people who might have COVID-19. Here are a few tips and tricks to help get ...
Our Good Fortune: Precisely because she has never been an ideologue (she calls herself a “pragmatic idealist”) Jacinda Ardern has a political nimbleness and spontaneity which, when infused with her exceptional emotional intelligence, produces spectacular demonstrations of leadership. Jacinda's empathic political personality contrasts sharply with the less-than-sunny ways of her ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill has just passed its third reading, 68-51. NZ First MPs bailed because their referendum amendment didn't pass, but there were plenty of MPs to provide a majority without them. The bill is a long way from perfect - most significantly, it subjects pregnant people who need ...
As most of the world tries to suppress the coronavirus spread, some countries are going it alone – trying to manage the pandemic through so-called “herd immunity”. Herd immunity means letting a large number of people catch a disease, and hence develop immunity to it, to stop the virus spreading. ...
So, as I sit at home with a very, very slight headache (i.e. not at work when I would otherwise be so), the now familiar figure of Ashley Bloomfield reports eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19 including two in Waikato. A surprise, given that we had just twelve yesterday? No. ...
Many who advocated for, and voted for, the current Coalition – particularly those who voted Labour and the Green Party – expected to see a sea change in the reality of social services. A real, deep change of attitude, approach of process through which the system negotiates the difficult and ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Ground-breaking law has passed that will decriminalise abortion and ensure women and pregnant people seeking abortions have compassionate healthcare. ...
The Green Party says that the measures announced by the Government today will help families and businesses to prioritise our collective health and wellbeing in the response to COVID-19. ...
As New Zealanders brace for a global downturn due to Covid-19, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says his Coalition Government’s rescue package "more significant" than any other he's seen around the world. The Coalition is to reveal a multi-billion-dollar stimulus plan on Tuesday afternoon designed to cushion the economic blow ...
We know some people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill drawn from the ballot today seeks to overhaul the youth justice system by instigating a system of demerit points for offences committed by young offenders. “The ‘Youth Justice Demerit Point System’ will put an end to ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign AffairsHonourable Ministers, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests and official delegates, ladies and gentlemen – Welcome to you all.We are also privileged to have with us here today Ms Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Disarmament and Arms ControlThe Public Advisory Committee for Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC) is holding a Parliamentary Symposium on Tuesday to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) hosted by PACDAC Chair and Under-Secretary for Disarmament and ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentThe Provincial Growth Fund is investing $6 million in a land-based aquaculture pilot to see whether yellowtail kingfish can be commercially farmed in Northland, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.A recirculating land-based aquaculture system will be built and operated ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for ForestryForestry Minister Shane Jones has announced two One Billion Trees programme grants of more than $1.18 million to help hapu and iwi in Northland restore whenua and moana.“Many communities around Aotearoa have benefited from One Billion Trees funding since the programme was launched ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign AffairsAhead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to establish truth, accountability and justice for the downing of Flight MH17 ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterThe Government is investing $19.9 million through the Provincial Growth Fund in a game-changing hydrogen energy facility in South Taranaki, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters announced today.“The development of alternative energy initiatives like this one is vital for the Taranaki region’s economy. ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Minister for Foreign AffairsForeign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand is partnering with countries in the Pacific to ensure they are prepared for, and able to respond to the global threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19).“There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
Farmers whose herds were culled in response to the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis will be able to minimise the tax treatment of their income in some circumstances. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash says Cabinet has agreed to change the law. It means farmers may be eligible to spread their income over ...
A $27 million dollar package, effective immediately, is being provided to social sector services and community groups to ensure they can continue to provide essential support to communities as we stay at home as a nation to stop the spread of COVID-19, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced. “At ...
“The guilty plea today will provide some relief to the many people whose lives were shattered by what happened on March 15,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “These guilty pleas and conviction bring accountability for what happened and also save the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, ...
The Prime Minister is holding daily press conferences to update New Zealanders on the Government's response to COVID-19. Links to videos and transcripts of these updates below. These transcripts also include All of Government press conferences led by Director Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. 25 March: Live update from the Prime ...
Frontline Police numbers have broken through the 10,000 mark for the first time in history as officers step forward to keep the community safe during the COVID19 lockdown. “Two Police graduations in Auckland and Wellington in the past week have been conducted in unprecedented circumstances,” Police Minister Stuart Nash said. ...
Urgent legislation has been passed to support the package of economic and social measures needed to recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. “The COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill will cushion New Zealanders from the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Revenue Minister ...
From tomorrow, Government support for farmers and growers affected by drought will be expanded and extended across the country, with access to Rural Assistance Payments (RAPS) available throughout the North Island, parts of the South Island and the Chatham Islands, Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced. “These challenging conditions have ...
Parliament has passed amendments to legislation that give the Secretary of Education stronger powers to act in the fight to limit the spread of COVID-19, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “They are part of a suite of changes passed under the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill,” Chris ...
Canada, Australia, Chile, Brunei and Myanmar have joined forces with New Zealand and Singapore by committing to keep supply chains open and remove any existing trade restrictive measures on essential goods, especially medical supplies, in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker today welcomed ...
Immediate freeze on rent increases Tenancies will not be terminated during the lock-down period, unless the parties agree, or in limited circumstances Tenants who had previously given notice can stay in their if they need to stay in the tenancy during the lock-down period Tenants will still be able to ...
As New Zealand unites to lock-down in the fight against COVID-19, the Finance Minister is urging all businesses and workers to stay connected over the next four weeks. “We understand the extreme pressure many businesses are under right now. I know most business owners think of their workers as family ...
A State of National Emergency has been declared across the country as the Government pulls out all the stops to curtail the spread of COVID-19. “Today we put in place our country’s second ever State of National Emergency as we fight a global pandemic, save New Zealanders’ lives and prevent ...
Mr Speaker I wish to make a Ministerial Statement under Standing Order 347 in relation to the recent declaration of a State of National Emergency. Having considered the advice of the Director Civil Defence Emergency Management, the Minister of Civil Defence declared a State of National Emergency for the whole of ...
People needing to travel on domestic flights, trains and Cook Strait ferries to get home before the country moves into level 4 lock-down tomorrow night will be able to continue using the passenger services until midnight on Friday, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. Domestic passenger services, particularly ferries, have ...
The Government, retail banks and the Reserve Bank are today announcing a major financial support package for home owners and businesses affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19. The package will include a six month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and SME customers whose incomes have been ...
Minister of Transport Phil Twyford has today announced details of the Government’s support package to keep key air freight moving and ensure New Zealanders retain access to essential goods during the four-week level 4 lockdown. “The Government is working with airlines and air freight operators to ensure New Zealand’s key ...
New Zealand moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 – Restrict New Zealand to move up to COVID-19 Alert Level 4 – Eliminate, in 48 hours Two-staged approach to give people and businesses time to prepare Level 3, from tomorrow Non-essential businesses must close All events and gatherings must be ...
Good afternoon The Cabinet met this morning to discuss our next actions in the fight against COVID-19. Like the rest of the world, we are facing the potential for devastating impacts from this virus. But, through decisive action, and through working together, do we have a small window to get ...
The Government is announcing significant further support for the economy, workers and businesses as the country unites to prepare for Alert Level 4 in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet today agreed to remove the cap on the Government’s wage subsidy scheme, which will inject a further $4 billion into the ...
The Government is backing the Reserve Bank’s latest action to support the economy by reducing longer-term interest rates, meaning lower costs for businesses and mortgage holders, and a lower currency to help our exporters. The Minister of Finance has signed a memorandum of understanding and a letter of indemnity with ...
The Government has asked the Commerce Commission to take account of the exceptional circumstances created by COVID-19 when monitoring business behaviour in coming weeks. “The purpose of my request to the Commerce Commission is to make sure businesses can work together in ways that will allow them to provide ...
The New Zealand Government has temporarily closed its High Commission in Bridgetown, Barbados and its Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Due to the increasing scarcity of air links in and out of Bridgetown and Yangon, and the pressure COVID-19 is placing ...
Associate Health and Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare has today announced the Government’s plan to support Māori communities and businesses in the face of COVID-19. “Our Government’s $12.1 billion economic package will help many Māori whānau, workers and businesses, whether it’s through wage subsidies, income support and worker redeployment, or ...
The Government and the hospitality industry have worked together to produce guidelines to assist with managing and reducing transmission of COVID-19, Health Minister David Clark announced today. The guidelines developed between the Government, Hospitality New Zealand and SkyCity Entertainment Group, set out how the new restrictions on physical distancing and ...
Four stage Alert System for COVID-19 announced New Zealand moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 – Reduce Contact New Zealanders over 70 and those with certain medical conditions told to stay at home as much as they can to reduce risk of contact with the virus Workplaces to implement ...
Kia ora koutou katoa I’m speaking directly to all New Zealanders today to give you as much certainty and clarity as we can as we fight Covid-19. Over the past few weeks, the world has changed. And it has changed very quickly. In February it would have seemed unimaginable to ...
New Zealand and Singapore have jointly committed to keep supply chains open and to remove any existing trade restrictive measures on essential goods, especially medical supplies, in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker welcomed the commitment. “This is an important collective response, and ...
JOINT MINISTERIAL STATEMENT BY SINGAPORE AND NEW ZEALAND AFFIRMING COMMITMENT TO ENSURING SUPPLY CHAIN CONNECTIVITY AMIDST THE COVID-19 SITUATION The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis. As part of our collective response to combat COVID-19, Singapore and New Zealand are committed to maintaining open and connected supply chains. We ...
Travel restrictions, closing our border to almost all travelers came into force from 23:59 on Thursday 19 March 2020 (NZDT). All airlines were informed of these restrictions before they came into force. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says “The transit of passengers between Australia and New Zealand has been agreed upon and ...
The Government has allocated $100 million to help redeploy workers affected by the economic impact of COVID-19, with the hard-hit region of Gisborne-Tairāwhiti to be the first helped, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford, Forestry and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. Phil Twyford ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is ramping up support for Tairāwhiti’s wood processing sector to bolster the region’s economy at a time of heightened uncertainty, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Following earlier announcements today of a regional support package for Tairāwhiti, Minister Jones has also announced a ...
The Coalition Government has stepped in to protect Air New Zealand with a significant financial deal that protects essential routes and allows the company to keep operating. The Government and Air New Zealand have agreed a debt funding agreement through commercial 24-month loan facilities of up to $900 million*. The ...
The Government has taken further measures to protect New Zealanders from the COVID-19 virus, effectively stopping all people from boarding a plane to New Zealand from 11:59pm today, except for returning New Zealanders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. New Zealanders’ partners, legal guardians or any dependent children travelling with ...
The Government has reinforced its commitment to protecting the health of New Zealanders from COVID-19 through the cancellation of indoor events with more than 100 people. “Protecting the health of New Zealanders is our number one priority, and that means we need to reduce the risks associated with large gatherings,” ...
Contrarian thinking can be provocative, interesting and amusing at the best of times – challenging our assumptions that life is running smoothly. But it can be downright dangerous, writes Peter Bale. Entire countries are trying contrarian approaches to the orthodox epidemiological theory on how to manage a virus that grows exponentially and ...
The most powerful woman in New Zealand sport, Kereyn Smith, has been working furiously through the Olympic meltdown to make sure Kiwi athletes are heard The small office in Kereyn Smith’s Auckland townhouse - until now unused and “somewhat chaotic” - has become New Zealand’s Olympic war room. It’s here in her isolation ...
Nurses are the first people you’ll meet if you think you have Covid-19. Here, one of our frontline workers describes the rapid changes both healthcare workers and the public are facing. As told to Josie Adams.I was working at an urgent care clinic in East Auckland when the first reports ...
Introducing a brand new series of charts, graphics and data-visualisations by Chris McDowall, covering the Covid-19 epidemic within New Zealand. This is the first edition – we’ll publish the latest set each day on The Spinoff.Information about confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is changing rapidly. This ...
Some countries are now using a serology test, which uses blood or serum samples to look for antibodies we produce in response to the virus. Siouxsie Wiles explains its strengths and weaknesses.Read Toby Morris’s new Side Eye comic, created with Siouxsie Wiles, here. And more of Siouxsie’s writing here. The Spinoff’s Covid-19 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omar Mubin, Senior Lecturer in human-centred computing & human-computer interaction, Western Sydney University The Australian government has launched an app offering up-to-date advice and information on the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Australia app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omar Mubin, Senior Lecturer in human-centred computing & human-computer interaction, Western Sydney University The Australian government has launched an app offering up-to-date advice and information on the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Australia app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, ...
The Prime Minister has praised Australia's move to make some Kiwis eligible for its wage subsidy scheme, which Australia's PM says is "more generous" than New Zealand's one. ...
Russia Today (sometimes referred to as Kremlin TV) does not have a widespread reputation as a fair and balanced news source. But occasionally if they say it’s raining, you might want to check outside to see if you need an umbrella.So there is some interest in its reporting of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture, University of Waikato During New Zealand’s four-week lockdown, all sporting facilities, back-country walking trails and parks are closed to stop the spread of coronavirus and avoid injuries. But New Zealanders have high ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hamilton, Visiting Scholar, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The A$130 billion payment will be benefit six million of Australia’s 13 million employees through their employers. It will ensure each employee kept on in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The secret sauce in the government’s A$130 billion JobKeeper payment is that it will be retrospective, in the best possible way. It’ll not only go to employers who have suffered ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michaela Pascoe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Exercise and Mental Health, Victoria University Medicare-subsidised psychology and psychiatry sessions, as well as GP visits, can now take place via phone and video calls – if clinicians agree not to charge patients out-of-pocket costs for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Sedger, Senior Lecturer, Head of the Viruses and Cytokine Biology group in the School of Life Science, University of Technology Sydney While many scientists are working on developing a coronavirus vaccine, others are busy testing antiviral drugs. Vaccines are generally only ...
Alex Casey delivers her last power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where Lily and Lesina make their final decisions. Click here for previous instalments. Well me homies, we have reached the end of our journey together. At times it was slow, like a food tech teacher dragging his brogues through the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government will provide a flat $1,500 a fortnight JobKeeper payment per employee for businesses to retain or rehire nearly six million workers, in a massive $130 billion six-month wage subsidy scheme to limit ...
David Downs - who doesn't even drink coffee - explains his plan to ensure some favorite cafés are still around when we emerge from lockdown Are you already sick of instant coffee, and missing your morning brew? Well, while you may have to suffer barrista-withdrawal symptoms for few more weeks, moves ...
By RNZ News The Auckland girl’s secondary school Marist College has New Zealand’s biggest Covid-19 cluster with 47 confirmed and probable cases. It is the biggest cluster of infection being tracked by NZ health authorities. The board chairperson Stephen Dallow said the confirmed cases included teachers, students and adults ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Irving, Adjunct Professor, University of Technology Sydney Blood is like milk, not toilet paper. You can’t just buy a lot of it and save it for later – you need to have a regular, fresh supply for patients who need it. ...
Newsroom Pro’s Bernard Hickey and Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr zoom out to lunch to talk about the Reserve Bank’s latest move to help banks lend to corporates. The Reserve Bank announced on Monday it would lend to banks dealing with distressed corporate borrowers, opening a new weekly Open ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacinta Carroll, Senior Research Fellow, Counter Terrorism and Social Cohesion, National Security College, Australian National University There are now nearly 300 cases of COVID-19 linked to passengers who disembarked from the Ruby Princess cruise ship without any health checks from authorities. Amid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Brayshaw, Lecturer, Fashion and Design History, Theory, and Thinking, University of Technology Sydney Once again, global crafting communities are stepping up to help in a crisis, sewing face masks desperately needed in American hospitals to help stop the spread of COVID-19. ...
Retailer Smiths City has reached an agreement with ASB Bank to delay a $1.5 million dollar repayment of a loan due tomorrow. It also said it is starting talks with potential investors to support the business. The company said Covid-19 has caused an unforeseen and unprecedented shock to the business, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Quentin Grafton, Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University In 1997, a bestselling book by Jared Diamond purported to explain how the West “won” world dominance based on the good luck ...
Figures from around the world show that Covid-19, while vicious and contagious, does behave like other infections, rampaging quickly through a community, hospitalising a small percentage and causing death in an even smaller percentage. The World Health ...
Video of PM Ardern’s Post Cabinet Press Conference is available here: New Zealand Labour Party - #LIVE: Post-Cabinet Press Conference 2 March 2020 Today Cabinet was focused on the response to protect NZers from COVID-19. Ardern outlined ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin To get a correct picture, we need regional data – indeed sub-regional statistics – because the virus does not respect political boundaries. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get regional data from European countries. The Johns Hopkins data – most widely used by the media (and ...
An extract from Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader, the brand new biography of the prime minister by Madeleine Chapman, formerly of this parish.Out today, Madeleine’s biography of the prime minister is magnificent. We cracked up. We had a wee cry. We’ve never read a political biography like it. Tomorrow ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor & Executive Director, The Conversation You might have seen recent mediareports in various outlets of a paper, commissioned by the federal government, reporting the coronavirus advice of a group of experts from Group Of Eight universities. Dated March ...
Analysis: On the face of it, New Zealand's epidemic curve is going exponential. But are case numbers really rising for the same reasons as overseas? If you've been following any news about Covid-19 over the past three months, you've heard of The Curve. It looks, variously, like a sky-high pillar ...
MediaRoom column: A decision to block publication of community newspapers under the State of Emergency could be changed tomorrow. Tim Murphy reports. A decision to stop community newspapers from circulating in the country's suburbs, towns and settlements appears to have been an example of officials scratching their regulatory itch. On Friday, ...
A Waikato berry grower has been ordered to pay over $76,000 for employment law breaches. Olde Berry Farm has been fined $50,000 and forced to pay over $16,000 in unpaid wages and holiday pay. Its managing director, Andrew Molly, has been made personally responsible fo an additional $10,000 in penalties. ...
The Government has set up a dedicated service for reporting fears of price gouging, as Jacinda Ardern flags the expansion of "essential services" Kiwis concerned about potential price gouging at supermarkets during the coronavirus lockdown can now report the issue directly to government officials, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. Ardern ...
A new report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment into the ban on new petroleum exploration permits outside onshore Taranaki has been welcomed by the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ). "This ...
The takeover offer for Abano Healthcare is off the table - a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said the $150-million takeover scheme agreement with Adams NZ Bidco Ltd. was terminated, with no fees payable by either party, as a result as the material adverse change to the company's ...
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contribution to the successful mission to train members of the Iraqi Security Forces to combat ISIS is at an end and the first troops from the final contingent have arrived home. Since December the NZDF has had 45 personnel ...
On Sunday it was reported there is a high demand for New Zealand Police's online form to report lockdown breaches. This news should act as a red flag, signalling the potentially corrosive effects on public trust within Aotearoa that may occur in these troubled times. Concerns have already been expressed ...
The Prime Minister is giving the latest updates on the government's fight against the impact of Covid-19 at her weekly post-Cabinet media conference. Watch live here. ...
Watch the replay of our fourth live Q&A session with Dr Ayesha Verrall, a senior lecturer at Otago University who specialises in infectious diseases. Ayesha Verrall is an infectious diseases physician and senior lecturer at Otago University's Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine (Wellington). Dr Verrall has been monitoring the spread and impact ...
Recognising how much of the burden women are carrying in this crisis - and how much they always carry - may take us closer to a society in which caring work is seen and valued for the essential work it is, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw COVID-19 has thrown a window wide ...
You’ve lost your job and your income has reduced due to the Covid-19 crisis, so how do you hold onto your home? Mortgage adviser Cameron Marcroft talks to Bonnie Sumner.Tell us about the changes you’ve seen since the lockdown began. We’ve had many enquiries coming through from both existing ...
When officials – including police themselves – don’t seem clear on the rules around movement, it makes it harder for everyone to do the right thing, writes Andrew Geddis.Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to eradicate the virus that causes Covid-19 from its shores. To do that, as a ...
The EMA is urging the Government to postpone the planned significant increase to the minimum wage on Wednesday, as employers grapple with keeping their doors open amid COVID-19. Chief Executive Brett O’Riley says that while it may be politically ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Wark, Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle As the number of COVID-19 cases around the world continues to climb, hospitals are under increased pressure to provide emergency care for the most severely ill patients. What does ...
Philanthropy New Zealand will release a weekly update to share philanthropic and grantmaking activity and insight as the sector seeks to support communities in the wake of COVID-19. This update is a general public document, provided to Ministers, ...
By Elias Nanau in Port Moresby Indonesia has issued a stern warning over illegal border crossers from Papua New Guinea. This follows Indonesia stepping up its security measures at the border in response to the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The First Secretary to the governor for West Sepik, Adam ...
As two staff members test positive for Covid-19, police are grappling with ways to keep their workforce safe while still enforcing the rules of the lockdown, Marc Daalder reports Two police staff have tested positive for Covid-19, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Monday, while nearly 400 others are now in self-isolation ...
The Covid-19 crisis in media has claimed New Zealand’s last surviving radio station solely dedicated to sport. Amid a wider crisis in media funding right now, the first outlet has been forced to close the doors – and it isn’t likely to return.Staff at Radio Sport have been told that the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute New Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates paint a grim picture of the direct economic costs of public health measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, and the need for more government support ...
Tips on how television can help educate your kids, for parents who have to keep working.It feels as if a great many parents are simply flourishing during this lockdown with fairy gardens, bird song and mason jars, daily bongo drum dancing and essays written by three-year-old prodigies about how satisfying ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. There were 76 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, up from the previous day's 63 new cases. Details of how many tests have been completed are now being ...
Supermarkets and some publishers are favoured by the government’s imposition of severe restrictions on what we can do and from whom we can buy during the Covid-19 lock-down. But one consumer watchdog is challenging the legality of an edict by Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi which favours supermarkets while Act leader ...
Robyn Hunt writes on the challenges facing disabled people and what needs to be done to support them as we go into lockdown, and beyond.Disabled people at higher risk need more help. Many of the almost one quarter of New Zealanders who are disabled are doing it hard as the ...
An online focus is coming back to bite newspaper companies, the Otago Daily Times’ editor says. David Williams reports. Despite advertising falling off a cliff, and its community papers dormant, the group editor of the country’s third-biggest publisher says there haven’t been layoffs and it’s unlikely any of its newspapers ...
Cabinet ministers will patch into a video conference this afternoon to discuss the Covid-19 lockdown, including complaints about high prices at supermarkets. ...
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Open mike 27/11/2012 
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The opportunity to make a stand and what do they do?
Hobbit critics will walk red carpet
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10850183
It’s not so much about making a stand – if they didn’t turn up who would notice? But by turning up they lose the legitimacy to take on the government for selling out workers and the country. It makes it seem they’re in for the goodies and were just complaining for the sake of it.
Yep it’s starting to look that way. Personally I don’t see the appeal of any of Peter Jackson movies.
Bad Taste, Brain Dead? No?
I notice that no Green MPs are going:
Note: Lynn, the blockquote button on WYSISYG is still not working correctly using a chrome browser. Always have to correct it manually in HTML.
The word “principle” remains in the Greens vocabulary, but regrettably, it is a word that frightens numbers of politicians even if they do understand it.
I very much doubt it has anything to do with principles, and like the lip service of those who are attending the party, is simply part of the script.
NZ becomes more like a bad movie every day, with the greens playing their part nicely right now.
See how easy it is to fool people!
Yes, it makes the Green Party option almost sealed for me, especially after reading Lynn’s post
They are the only party who seem to care about sexual abuse support services too.
Here is another reason to Vote Green, this time the evil TPPA which most media are silent on (a notable exception was TV 3’s Think Tank, Kia Ora for that JT:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Greens-uneasy-with-Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Agreement/tabid/1607/articleID/278223/Default.aspx
http://ondemand.tv3.co.nz/Think-Tank-Season-2-Ep-15/tabid/59/articleID/7069/Default.aspx
Watch this if you can ^^^
Likely results of TPPA:
* Undermining of workers rights
* Taking People’s Power Away, especially the government (as the government cannot pass laws that disadvantage trans-national companies, the right for the investors in these companies able to sue our government if they pass laws that disadvantage them)
* Surrender of our economic sovereignty to trans-national companies.
Scumbag Jackson having another go with his lying bullshit about the actors’ union protest.
Misunderstanding behind Hobbit spat – Peter Jackson… | Stuff.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/8002142/Misunderstanding-in-Hobbit-spat
That was close.
Luckily JK stepped in and saved the day.
Giving public subsidies to a half-billionaire’s work project very worthwhile. Must help out corporate mates at any cost to the country.
You guys keep attacking the new Ed Hillary.
Strategies like this and Labour’s a cert for 2014.
The new Ed Hilary? For making quite a few excellent movies, as opposed to climbing Everest and being a lifelong philanthropist and all around good guy who stayed mostly out of politics and will provide an excellent example to youngsters for years to come. To compare those two shows you are grasping at straws. I don’t think I ever want to see someone on a banknote for just making a movie.
Sort out a real example of he is the next of, then come back and talk with the grown ups buddy.
He’s the most famous NZ out there at the moment.
Ask any one in the country and most of the world who Peter Jackson is and I’d be surprised if they’d never heard of him.
Everything you hear about Jackson is positive, the movies he made, the jobs and opportunities he’s created, etc, for many many people the guy is a real inspiration, came from a humble back ground to being one of the most powerful movie directors in the world.
You’d have to be a complete fucking idiot to think your on to a winning strategy attacking the man,
That makes him the new Ed Hillary, has nothing to do climbing mountains or giving away money, bozo
Great skill and famous yes… but the talent is not the man.
If Ed Hilary had played the manipulative games played by SIR peter would the world have half the respect?
Really?? I was not attacking him in any way, just pointing out that your comparison is off by a fair way, Ed Hilary has had a far larger impact on NZ life and identity than Peter Jackson has at this time. In time he could very well take the place of Kate Shepard or Ed Hilary on one of our bank notes, but not now.
His scaremongering was smoke and mirrors on behalf of big money, why can’t our film actors have decent work conditions? [enter Planet Key line here]
Jackson is a greedy manipulator who makes tedious, bloated Hollywood crap.
And benefits financially from being the member of at least 3 different unions, including the screenwriters guild.
At the same time he prevents NZ workers from getting similar protections and benefits from unions.
Basically he’s hypocritical scum more interested in adding to his half billion horde and getting bonuses from Corporate Hollywood, than giving NZ actors the same treatment as foreign actors working here.
bunch of twits – don’t they have a political bone in their bodies?
Nz competitive advantage in films comes in part its de-unionized film industry, so of course National wanted to stamp its brand on giving the Hobbit more money due to the high dollar which was likely to have killed off the Hobbit movie. But National media buddies can’t say that either less other industries want handouts for the high dollar. So it all gets quite creepy how the media, government and even critics tippy toes around the issues.
Its not the only news story like that, you could say media is more story than news in NZ.
Take the policy of Labour in not fighting for kiwis in OZ, where kiwi and aussie tax payers would fund welfare just for aussies. And no, its not about the much smaller proportion of Australians on welfare in NZ that got the Australians uppity, since Australians working in NZ would be paying into welfare for both Australians and Kiwis, since they bring back their money to OZ and not staying to go on welfare!!! All in all it was just the NZ Labor government that wanted to lower wages in NZ by making it harder to move across to OZ. Its a stupid policy because the whole point of open borders is to help both countries reach multiplier effects, fancy that, NZ back stabbing kiwis at home and in OZ just to ???for what??? so that NZ Labour could justify beanie bashing. But even that did not make sense, since it takes money, risk, to jump the ditch to look for work, and then to have NZ government turn around and say they moved over there to get on welfare, that’s just stupid, what proprtion of people moved to Australia to become bums??? The real problem in OZ was that there was systemic discrimination against pacific looking people because Australia has a long history of institutionalize racism.
And so why don’t we talk about that? Because our media elite are a bunch of feckless arsewipes indoctrinated into the belief that to say anything adverse about people in the limelight (over a serious issue is forbidden). That’s why Nz turd blossums are so excessive and ubiquitious.
aerobubble
I think you’re way off the beam there aerobubble. There are various reasons that Labour could have considered when not making too much of a fuss but I don’t think that forcing down labour costs was one of them.
But you agree that the policy, by making it hard to move to OZ, would increase pressure on Kiwis to take less well paying jobs (and increase the pool of people working in NZ)?
I can not read Helen Clarks mind any better than you, I have to say its pretty obvious
something was amiss, systemic racism against pacific looking peoples would naturally
carry over into the Maori Kiwi population in Australia, raising their prospects of claiming
welfare. The NZ instead of supporting their citizens in NZ, Labour some how got the
Australian government to ignore that patently obvious, that Kiwi’s working in the NZ
economy would be supporting welfare for Australians but not themselves, that somehow
Kiwi’s employed and worked owed some duty to other kiwis (to invoke personal responsibility
on kiwis who moved to Australia to pull their fingers out).
So it was way off beam of me for me to consider that Labour would have not considered
the effects of the policy on the NZ economy and wages, that by increasing the disincentives to moving over the ditch, they were dealing to the skills drought at home (where companies are unwilling to lift wages but rather want governments to intervene on their behalf to drive down wages).
We did not get huge debts because people willing took them on, they took them on because wages weren’t keeping up and governments were reducing the cost of borrowing money while dumbing down the housing industry to stimulate a boom in housing prices. People thought they were richer, they could loosen their borrowing belts as they had more capital, all due to both Labour and National working against the interests of kiwis in NZ, and now it looks like in Australia TOO!
With the latest Novopay debacle Foss has just announced that the system is to be “sold” to Lotto.
This will give more security to teachers pay he was heard to mutter.
A great example of willful, gross incompetence.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7995518/Novopay-launch-reckless-when-trial-showed-system-not-ready
If we had a useful parliamentary opposition perhaps less of this kind of debacle would occur.
Yes, because it’s not like ministers should be accountable, or competent, is it?
What else did you expect from a bunch of right wing morons?
Apologies for the tautology.
I don’t think having a decent opposition would have helped, from what I’ve read this has been pretty much a MOE run project with very little input from the Minister
http://fyi.org.nz/request/409/response/3014/attach/html/3/OIA%20Release%20to%20Julie%20Fairey%2010%20September%202012.pdf.html
Minister with head buried in the sand will have very little input.
Especially to a MoE who’s staff she has helped to decimate and demoralise.
That makes me very angry. This is public money, paid to public servants. It isn’t ok to try and claim that minister’s are not responsible regards of how little input THE MINISTER DECIDED to have or not have.
Avoiding media is the ultimate insult that a minister for any portfolio can make. I hope that the media (specifically Campbell Live) start to give substantial air time to opposition MP’s to talk about the issues.
yep.
We have great leaders in this country – as long as they refuse to read or be told about anything, and avoid making any decisions, they can’t be held accountable for incompetence in the ministry that they’ve mismanaged.
a complete change in payroll provider…. yeah what kind of Minister would have any kind of interest in ensuring that their Ministry employees would be getting paid properly
Ultimately a person at the top must have given the Go-ahead. CEO? Minister? Someone must have decided. Who?
Chris Carter.
BM the Nats are in charge now.
Carter is the one who signed up Nova pay.
Tolley and Parata completely failed to oversee the process for four straight years. An abject failure to ask even the most simple questions about a complete system change in the child education sector. Akin to a captain failing to ask the navigator where the ship is going and whether those rocky shoals are in the way.
But a Labour guy signed the original contract with an experienced vendor so it’s Labour’s fault?
Bullshit Merchant.
Yes.
So if I build a perfectly fine car, sell it to you, and you pull donuts, over-rev it and refuse to do any maintenance, the flat tyre or other failure that occurs years later is my fault?
It’s getting a bit late to still keep blaming Labour, BM. Sooner or later you’ll have to face the fact that the shit-pudding the ministers are splashing around the cabinet table is of their own making.
In defence of Carter, Tolley and Parata I doubt any of them has anything but rudimentary computer knowledge(shame Claire Curran wasn’t available at the time),
So no doubt they were relying pretty heavily on the MOE to do the job properly and take care of the technical side of this development.
My (large) employer runs Talent2 payroll system with no problems.
Yeah, keep trying to blame Labour.
It’s not computer literacy that’s the issue, it’s management literacy. Upgrading systems isn’t like buying groceries at the supermarket. The person in charge needs to constantly monitor activity, ask questions about how it will work in practise, and if it looks like a system won’t be ready in time or is unsuited (as apparently was the case prior to rollout) have the guts to postpone full implementation.
Talent2 are perfectly capable of developing payroll systems, but they’re private enterprise: if the specs are inadequate and the oversight is poor, they will do the minimum amount possible for the maximum amount of money.
If Carter had indeed signed with a company that was incapable of delivering, then a competent minister would have had this reported to them by a competent CEO, and they would have cancelled the contract, sued for damages due to inadequate work, and tendered someone else to do the job.
But no – the system is rolled out even when the test phase failed dismally.
LOL – all this illustrates is the continuity of the agenda, and how stupid people attempt to ignore it.
BM is spot on, Chris Carter , easily one of the most compromised mps ever, used to sign up novo, while his arm was up his back!
Labour signed it up, National ran with it…its the standard M.O!
How to know Carter was bent, other than his ripping off Kiwi taxpayers, and still is now – He went to work for the UN, where only the most crooked end up..
you’re more delusional than bm
Bm the nats are in charge and have been for four years.
So Professor Claire Robinson has found evidence of bias in the presentation of leaders Key and Goff in last year’s general election. Apparently Key had more favorable text and photos than Goff. The Herald’s bias was particularly noticeable.
Who would have thunk it?
I was trying to remember if Claire Robinson was the same persona who appears on TV commenting on politics with a rightwards lean…? Looks like it.
So she had to do some research to discover something that is pretty obvious to most who follow the news closely.
Labour deliberately played down Goff and his image (no pics on billboards) while the nats built their campaign almost solely on key, which labour supported by targeting his character.
Maybe its just a case of You reap the headlines and images you sow
That might explain fewer items of coverage, but the images of Key also tended to be larger than those of Goff. So I don’t think that really jibes as an explanation.
Gotta justify that pay packet some how!
From memory she worked in Jenny Shipley’s office in the 1990s. This makes her conclusions even more remarkable.
research is necessary, otherwise it’s just anecdata vs anecdata.
Key can counter an opinion with his opinion. When he counters actual research with his opinion, he looks like a wee bit of a dick to a few more voters every time.
And the country would be better off how exactly, or the outcome would have changed the course for NZ in a positive direction, um, no!
Straws, clutching, nah dropped it!
Could it be used as a basis for a complaint to the Press Council?
Perhaps some blogger who was previously gone down that route could give us an opinion?
http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/
Braunias at his best:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/opinion/steve-braunias/7990355/The-Secret-Diary-of-David-Cunliffe
I’m not anti shearer or pro cunliffe and it didn’t raise a smile, but I suppose it’s as funny as all the it’s okay to lie cos it’s just marketing coming from dunnokeyo
That was very amusing.
i was being serious
Road to Nowhere?Talking Heads?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10850138
(people may need to carry their houses on their backs)
-Real People Party
the question is why debate the sharing out of a paltry public transport budget when the real issue is that NZ should be committing 10 times as much to these projects and would still win hands down in the long run
NEW ZEALAND -‘PERCEIVED’ TO BE ‘THE LEAST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD’ – yeah right.
Where do the corrupt store their ‘ill-gotten’ gains / bribes / ‘dirty’ money?
In TAX HAVENS.
Like New Zealand.
http://www.taxhavens.biz/other_tax_havens/tax_haven_new_zealand/
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
True Story: Once were warriors.
lovely maori man actively seeking work.regularly rings up former boss who keeps him hanging…
through word of mouth, at church, is led to and offered a position operating a waste removal truck
(not a Love Removal Machine, Edie).
Persevering with a very grubby occupation this man walks with God.
Two phenomena become apparent to him;
1, he is treated rudely and dominated for expressing his Christian faith
2, entrenched racially biased attitudes (rednecks).
anyway, he relates to me how following difficulties with equipment (stone blocked pump) there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth by the Boss; this is during his 4th week, yet once task learned
problem solved
Following day, called back to work after departing for home, and let go with the excuse that they
“didn’t want a labourer”
(interestingly, they continue to employ a “mate” in his sixties who is unable to achieve relative
productivity due to life-style health complications).
Now, because I was unsettled during my earlier years and over the course of my employment history
I have worked in and observed the cultural environments of a wide range of fields,
from digging ditches to occupational therapy and many things in between.
If NAct and the mainstream employers think that what passes for general employment culture in
Aotearoa is acceptable, then they are dreaming. Even at Watties, they are screwing the unions, and
no amount of “food fucker” (excuse my french) is going to take away the greasy taste.
U think you know me? I am an ethnographer. I know you. Stop fighting yourself=Embrace Others
http://www.amazon.com/Technological-Society-Jacques-Ellul/dp/0394703901
-Bull Dozer (Mask; “somebody stop me” 😉 )
Black Jack Davey-The White Stripes cover
A Hobbit blanket of lies, myth and dishonesty covers the truth! http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/lest-we-forget-real-hobbit-story.html
FYI folks!
27 November 2012: News from CPAG
Child-poverty documentary a ‘must-see’
Child Poverty Action Group says a ground-breaking documentary on child poverty in New Zealand is compulsory viewing for all New Zealanders.
Multi-award winning producer and presenter Bryan Bruce’s Inside Child Poverty documentary will re-screen on TV3 tonight at 9.30pm.
CPAG spokesperson, Associate Professor Mike O’Brien said,
“We are delighted that TV3 is re-screening this documentary. It has played a significant role in raising the issue of child poverty in New Zealand. We believe it is a must-see for all New Zealanders.
“As the documentary says, New Zealanders are good people and we can fix this problem if we choose to. No child in New Zealand should be hungry, cold or ill due to preventable disease.
Child poverty is not a party political issue; it is a moral and ethical issue. Our politicians need to know that New Zealanders do want to invest in children and their future.”
Featured in the documentary is CPAG’s ongoing fight for the rights of 230,000 children through legal channels.
The case is to be heard in Court of Appeal in early 2013. CPAG urgently needs funds to support their action: seehttp://www.cpag.org.nz/infocus/
http://www.cpag.org.nz
Couple of minutes til the house sits and Shearer gets torn to bits by Key.
Again.
*sigh*
DS’s CV just keeps getting better and better…..what next, savaged by a wet bus ticket.
Business as usual for fracking industry
On the whole the interim report is highly disappointing, weak, disjointed and not very thorough. Unfortunately the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment omits some very relevant and important aspects to the fracking debate and cherry-picks what information is included. Jan Wright also seems to think that a moratorium on fracking isn’t required because the oil and gas industry will somehow magically clean up its act… Yeah right!
Walkabout (film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout_(film)
anyway,
off I went into town. Now if the neo-liberal wannabees think they are pulling the wool over the
general public’s eyes, they have got another thing coming, unless they are cushioned in some cacoon
of silk spun by the low and working classes.It is all about synthesizing corresponding information; in
addition, to the MSM fog you check out the alternative press. Then, check out a bit of audio-visual
and check with the people on the ground (if the politicians think that people who opine on blogs are
not representative of the wider consensus of aware people, then more fool them; I personally know heaps of people, although I do tend to avoid the middle class and above).Like, just in the Supermarket I had conversations with three people who know me and a few more that I now know 🙂
First, to correlate with MSM report on budget rationalisations at DHB, receptionist, (who has learned more about efficiency and IT in a year than the NAct government departments appear to have in a couple of terms) reported deficiencies in Doctor funding and utilisation disrupting service delivery.
Second, at my second favourite, second hand bookshop, I had a spontaneous chat with the owner.
S. is widely read and has a family with 3 teenage children (loves the Russian writers also, Pasternak
participantly-observed torture during the Soviet years from a small closet).S reads the guardian and
comments regularly; I have introduced her to the concept of The Standard and she is going to check
it out (remember human motivations?) trinity is one, just culture.
anyway, we got to discussing the times and she was in 100% concurrence that the capitalism project
has reached it’s use-by-date according to a wide range of sources; it has floundered and beached; Beached as Bro’!
S. also was in agreement with the insidious role played by MSM in shaping personal culture and her
family had found and benefited from discarding the television. I asked her about her opinion of JM
who was presently on RNZ; couldn’t be botherd with him she asserted.
Check out The Mekons; “Millionaire”
🙂
Yesterday afternoon on Newstalk zb charities were discussed. A woman from New York emailed in and said that the Mayor of New York would not accept food donations because of the salt content.
I cannot think of a valid reason for not accepting non perishable food donations and would like to know what the reason is.
Possibly could be sued were the blood pressure to rise.
If the woman was taking the piss out of the topic I have been taken in.
some Good;Oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferiority_complex
rattle the cage and ‘Break them rusty chains…’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlerian_psychology
-woof (wanna’ bit a Mongrel in ya?)
Terrorist responsible for NZ deaths killed
Hold on a second, are we not providing support to an occupation/invasion of that country…
Who is the terrorists becomes questionable, but you gotta love the NZ media for really drawing the long bow, and milking the propganda for dear life!
Oh well, here are a few biases to get bound up in, or not
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biases_in_judgment_and_decision_making
best to tell the truth.less “stories” to remember 🙂
mitigation. My Lord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias_mitigation
Intelligent are we?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence
we may all be, people certainly change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
-Gardener (reaching the ‘g’ spot; these Edwardian media commentators are so “old hat”) 🙂