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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This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of Technology This weekend marks 50 years exactly since humans first walked on the Moon. It also marks Australia’s small but significant role in enabling NASA ...
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag.First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag.Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned ...
Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogsat the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ a close friend had said. ‘Then you’ll be able to tell if it is going to lead anywhere’: a short story by New Plymouth author Elizabeth Smither. Photography by Peter Black. ...
Opinion - The leadership visits are more interesting in that they serve as a spotlight on the two countries - politically, and on policy issues, writes Brigette Morten. ...
Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher: Children and Technology, Western Sydney University Instagram is running a social media experiment in Australia and elsewhere to see what happens when it hides the number of likes on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...
A poem by Miramar poet Geoff Cochrane.Channel HoppingStupa or Stuka?Weet-Bix or Welsh rabbit?Galactic aerodrome or Matchbox truck?*I’m young in my dreams, still young.*Beautiful Keanu’s wearing shades—antique shades with iodine-coloured lenses.*I’m young in my dreams, still young,and I still have some ...
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...
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 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury, $35)Fucking ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Griebsch, Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine, University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Sydney, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Recently reported cases of the often fatal bacterial infection ...
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...
Finance companies say they shouldn’t have to be ‘fit and proper’ even though in some cases they charge more than the planned clampdown on high cost lending. A group of finance companies that charges well over the government’s proposed cap on ...
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign Affairs and trade Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The new, ...
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIRO The role Australia played in relaying the first television images of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the Moon 50 years ago this July features in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndal Sleep, Research Fellow, Griffith University In Australia’s social security laws, the “couple rule” is used to determine if a person is in a relationship, tying access to Centrelink payments to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Walker, Lecturer (Management), Victoria University of Wellington We live in a society obsessed with performance. For both young and old, competitions, awards and rankings are an inescapable feature of life. How ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsty Volz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Of all the mantras for modernism, the one I think most befitting for Australian mid-century modern houses is L’esprit Nouveau – The New Spirit. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future, vaccination rates fall alarmingly, and construction industry encouraged to lower emissions.Snowmaking has saved the ski industry from disaster this year, after the weather ...
Neil Armstrong may have been the first man on the moon, but if we define the ‘space race’ as spaceflight capability, the Soviets won it hands down, writes Jennifer Frost. ...
Joel Rindelaub explains why it's so important for those weighing on climate science to be transparent about their funding sources and conflicts of interest. ...
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”) 🙂