Is it possible that in spite of all the high tech, the Burnham operation attacked the wrong village? If so, then the “terrorists” killed were in fact the civilians.
Yes it looks possible that they went to the wrong village , raided it , killed people, and then set about obfusticating this fact. and now they are in too deep to stop
I’d suggest that they put it in front of a inquiry. I do a lot of GPS work, it isn’t as nearly cut and dried as you seem to think because it depends heavily on the underlying mapping.
BTW: Welcome back after an even more welcome absence. You appear to have retained the same old naive and trusting dumb fool characteristics that I remember of old. A supine bootlicker of the words of authority.
I’d love an inquiry…. in fact, we should go whole-hog on this. The longer it goes on, the more shows how inept Hager is.
As far as GPS work… military-grade GPS equipment is never out by 2km’s…. just sayin’
BTW: Haven’t been absent. You appear to have retained the same old naive and trusting dumb fool characteristics that I remember of old. A supine bootlicker of the words of a discredited “journalist”.
I was doing some image work on this at the request of someone on twitter- here are the two claims of where Operation Burnham happened, and the nearby populated areas that Toby Manhire identified:
As someone who works on miitary geo location systems I assure you something would have to go very wrong for it to put the team 2Km out of position.
It is possible they were in the wrong place but if they were the footage will show where their location was and will either support or refute the accusations.
Depends if it’s footage of the same op, and if it’s been edited. We’ve seen before that video footage released by military organisations is often edited before it’s used as “proof” they did nothing wrong.
I’m still not convinced as to why members of the SAS would come forward with such a story if they weren’t whistleblowers- do we actually have any proposed motive for Hager and Stepenson’s sources to lie?
These are both very respected journalists, one of who recently won a case where the NZDF tried to sue him for defamation, and the other who is New Zealand’s only internationally accredited investigative journalist.
We should have an independent investigation reporting to all parliamentary parties that de-classifies the relevant material and brings as much as possible out into the open. If that investigation finds war crimes were committed, then criminal charges should be brought.
Yes both journalists are respected (by many of us in the NZDF) however so are many of the people you are choosing to assume are lying.
Have a read of this crashcart. With respect to Major General Keating, it was not so much that he lied but he certainly obscured the truth about what “village” was involved in the SAS raid:
I’m not specifically talking about the NZDF tampering with evidence, I don’t have a prior example of that to hand, although I suppose it’s possible one exists, I’ve never heard of it. I am talking about militaries around the world involved in similar behaviour to cover their asses when wrongdoing has been discovered. I would like to hope the NZDF can be held to the higher standard than foreign militaries, but to simply believe so without independent verification now that an accusation is in the public sphere without gathering any independent evidence to confirm seems the very height of naivety.
I do not assume the NZDF is lying. I assume it is possible that they are lying, just like I also assume it is possible that Hager and Stephenson may be made mistakes while still following good journalistic practice. One of those two things is the case, and that is why we should have an independent inquiry that doesn’t rely on us either taking the journalists’ accounts as truth or the NZDF’s evidence at face value.
Prison guard’s personal files given to gang leaders. Gangs the Killer Beez and Black Power have the opportunity to intimidate proceedings in an upcoming trial. What does this gross violation say about our Dep’t of Corrections and what action will they take to secure the safety of witnesses?
Also, the files were given to the prisoners lawyer under disclosure according to RNZ.
He/she must have noticed the info contained, why did they give the files to their clients knowing it contained sensitive information?
Will the Green’s and Labour’s new conservative fiscal position cost them support?
Sure, they may win-over a number of swing voters, but at what price?
The Right are largely delighted, the Left are largely disappointed while a number are bewildered.
The next political poll which takes this announcement into account will be interesting.
As they are the two main parties of the so-called Left, will their Left supporters swallow this dead rat simply because they feel they have nowhere else to turn? Or will Winston be the winner of the fallout?
Personally, I often wonder why more from the left haven’t drifted towards the Democrats (for social credit).
So a sensible economic policy is a negative for the Labour/Green bloc? Sounds like a panic reaction to a solid and well thought out Labour/Green bloc announcement to me.
There are many ways of re-focusing government spending on different priorities while maintaining balanced or surplus books, as the last 9-year Labour government showed.
sensible economic policy…in other words a continuation of austerity…an economic policy working so well for the working people all around the Western/developed world….yup….
Well for instance the Lab/Gr bloc may take a couple of billion out of the Roads of National Significance bloated budget and put that into state housing construction.
There are many options. You have to win the election first.
Not quite, as there’s nothing in the fiscal rules preventing them raising extra revenue, it just states that they’ll try to run net surpluses over an economic cycle. (ie. their surpluses should add up to more than their deficits) The Greens want more revenue, Labour would prefer not to raise income tax or implement new taxes at the moment. It would seem likely that their coalition deal might allow for some revenue generation to make more room for everyone’s spending priorities.
Well, if you believe their rhetoric on the economy, (and I have no reason not to just yet) they have ruled out austerity politics as part of their fiscal rulebook. You and they might not agree on where the line actually sits for what constitutes austerity, but you can bank on the Greens never voting for a budget with any significant austerity measures, even if you distrust Labour.
The thing is, Matthew, now that they’ve made the public commitment (and if we are to take them on good faith) they will try to uphold that commitment. Thus, greater effort will go into constraining policy and its related expenditure to ensure it meets their commitment, hence placing limits on their expenditure and their ability to do more sooner.
The Greens would never have made this commitment in the first place if it implied austerity, which is why sufficient spending on services is written into the rules. Yes, the Greens will try to follow them in a way that leads to an acceptable budget. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to compromise their core values to do so, they’re pretty touchy about that sort of thing.
With expenditure being somewhat capped, surpluses being sought and funding being syphoned off to meet self set debt repayments, it is unlikely sufficient spending on services will be achieved.
The cap being set is lower than past expenditure and clearly needs were not being met back then.
When Labour last left office, core crown expenditure was at 35.5% of GDP. Yet, 175,000 kids were deemed to be living in poverty after nine years of strong economic growth. Things have become far more worse now, hence significant expenditure is required.
“Yes, the Greens will try to follow them in a way that leads to an acceptable budget. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to compromise their core values to do so “
Which explains why oversight of the new self imposed rules will be given to a new independent costing unit. Therefore, they may not totally compromise their core values but the independent costing unit will ensure they have less to spend on them.
Of course we don’t know how this works out in practice yet, but I have a high degree of confidence how this works in theory (why its being advocated as a good idea). The central premise is that government spending is crowding out non government spending. A more drastic notion also considred here is called Ricardian equivalence, meaning that non government spending is presently being held back for fear of having to pay future taxes. Both these ideas correspond to another concept of fiscal multipliers being less than one (so every doller of government spending causes less than a doller of national income to result). This is the big idea the IMF used and later concluded was wrong when forecasting and suggesting reforms to the Greeks.
Of course in every day parlance the notion that government net income cuts will probably result in a non government net spending boom, would be called wishfull thinking. Never the less that is probably the conventional wisdom behind this idea. Who knows Labour 5 got lucky on this before.
“sensible economic policy…in other words a continuation of austerity…an economic policy working so well for the working people all around the Western/developed world….yup….”
Where’s the austerity? Seriously, I’d be interested to know where you see it in the document. I’d also be interested in say 3 comparable policies from overseas. Not austerity policies, but ones that match what L/G announced.
Some would argue such a constraining fiscal position (preventing government from doing what’s required, thus prolonging the turnaround) is far from sensible when so much more needs correcting.
Some would also argue the last 9-year Labour government refocusing of expenditure did little to prevent the dire situation a number face today.
Therefore, it’s not a panic reaction, more a difference of opinions.
It may have been designed solely for the media, but the position (like most political positioning) is impacting on voters decisions. I personally know of several that have been deterred by this self constraining stance.
It does raise a lot of questions, though this new fiscally conservative stance Lab green has taken, they’ve promised a lot so what’s going to get cut.?
I do think they’ve unfortunately fallen into the same trap again, where they’re going to spending all their time explaining how this is going to be achieved which will result in undoubtedly poor financial figures which will then be ripped apart by the media and once again Labour will look like incompetent pillocks that they are, handing the election to National.
National plant Grant Robertson brings home the gold for the blue team yet again, he’s such an asset that man and doesn’t get the kudos he deserves.
“It’s designed solely for the media commentariat so they feel comfortable.”
That’s what I reckon too. Now there is a baseline for the rest of the election campaign, so each time someone starts on about the scarey, fiscally irresponsible lefties (esp the Greens) they have a sound reference document. It presents not just Labour as competent but the potential L/G coalition. NZ is ready for change, but they’re only going to change to something pretty stable.
“NZ is ready for change, but they’re only going to change to something pretty stable”
And the other side of the coin is some see this as Labour (and now the Greens) falling short again and being little more than National lite.
Therefore, Labour and the Greens better hope this attracts more support than what it might potentially end up costing them as a number of supporters are unhappy.
“And the other side of the coin is some see this as Labour (and now the Greens) falling short again and being little more than National lite.”
Yeah, really old argument that one though, and it’s bollocks. On pretty much every conceivable measure, including this budget policy, it’s pretty easy to demonstrate important difference.
This one policy doesn’t suddenly make all the Greens’ policies or kaupapa RW. That’s daft.
Besides, if people want a govt left of National where are they going to go if they don’t vote L/G?
It may be an old argument (Labour has been falling short for years) but it’s not total bollocks.
This announcement has got a number of peoples hackles raised for this very reason.
The important differences as you put is merely what others consider the lite side of National Lite.
This positioning impacts expenditure, hence is tied to all policy and plays into the neo-liberal dogma. Therefore, while it doesn’t necessarily make the Greens totally right wing it has moved them further to the right.
“Besides, if people want a govt left of National where are they going to go if they don’t vote L/G?”
Some will turn to NZF, others will drift towards TOP. Hone and co may pick up a few and so too will some of the other stragglers, but the real concern is how many more will become disenfranchised, further reducing the left voter block?
Those aren’t people that want a left wing govt though.
This positioning impacts expenditure, hence is tied to all policy and plays into the neo-liberal dogma. Therefore, while it doesn’t necessarily make the Greens totally right wing it has moved them further to the right.
It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the Greens. Of course in 2017 they’re going to use tools that work within the neoliberal framework. They won’t get to be part of govt if they don’t. But the Greens don’t operate within the traditional L/R spectrum that you are portraying. Lynn calls them orthogonal to that. This is why people get confused, and then think ah, if they’re not left they must be right. It’s just not true.
If people have been concerned about National Lite they could have voted Green a decade or more ago when they were more ‘left’. Had the Greens been on 15% ten years ago, they’re be on 25% this year and able to do the things that people are wanting from them. But lots of lefties wouldn’t vote for them, so they’ve adapted. But that doesn’t mean they are neoliberal. Go read their Charter and other kaupapa docs, because this and all their policy can only be understood within that.
It’s the same stuff about Shaw being neoliberal because he wears a suit. People used to say this about Norman too btw until it became obvious that he wasn’t. Shaw has green cred, that’s why he’s co-leader.
It’s true that some people will be thinking the Greens sold out. More of a problem than that inaccurate perception is that too many lefties are pushing that now as a meme. I’m still yet to see a decent explanation other than this generalised assertion that x must mean y. No-one has said why yet, and few here have engaged with Matthew Whitehead’s interpretation of the policy. That tells me a lot.
> But the Greens don’t operate within the traditional L/R spectrum that you are portraying.
My 2c: I see that you could have a Green Party that was neither left nor right, but having had a look at the policies and people of this Green Party of NZ, this ain’t it.
Before I launch into an explanation, can I set out that I think a left wing party has these qualities:
– seeks to increase taxes and increase social spending
– supports underprivileged groups (e.g. women, Maori, beneficiaries)
– seeks to give rights to tenants (cf landlords), workers (cf employers), and beneficiaries (cf workers)
– lacks confidence in market solutions.
Not much point me going on if you don’t think those are left wing qualities.
Assuming that you’re right and that this is just the beginning of an orchestrated PR strategy to make the “media commentariat” feel comfortable – relaxed and comfortable; that rings a bell from the not so distant past – I fail to see two things: 1) what is the intended role of said “media commentariat”; 2) why not talk directly to, or more importantly, with the people rather than relying on a willing MSM to do the heavy lifting?
For a long time there has been a strong feeling or perception rather that NZ MSM have an anti-Left bias to frame it loosely. So, is this a step-wise strategy to win them over in order to then next win over the voters?
So far, some of the people that have cheered the BRR are distinctly on the right side of the political spectrum and some of the people that have been less than impressed and unconvinced are on the left. Surely, this must make you question whether this strategy might result in blowback.
The MSM is the winning and losing of any election.
We’ve still got a while to go in this country before that’s different.
Remember why the National “rowing the boat” attack ad was so effective last time.
The only negative blowback will be from a tiny group of moist hard-lefties who have nowhere to go other than the Greens. If they go any further left than that, their votes won’t register in Parliament anyway.
O.k. I fully admit naïvely giving MSM less credit and the ‘average’ voter more credit in determining the outcome of elections.
IIRC the “rowing boat” was an ad by National for (in) MSM, not something fabricated by MSM. But I guess you refer to the context or the background against which this ad was projected.
“Remember why the National “rowing the boat” attack ad was so effective last time.”
Indeed, it portrayed the opposition all rowing in different directions. However, I don’t see why Labour and the Greens believe that rowing in the Right direction will win over their Left wing supporters.
Their rationale seems to be as you suggested. They believe their left wing support is minimal, has nowhere else to turn, thus will largely swallow this dead rat.
Most left wing voters won’t even register this policy at that level you are talking about, and those that do won’t care as much as you think. Sue Bradford said there were Greenies concerned, which I’m sure is true, but if they’re talking to her, they’re politicised and understand well enough where the value in their vote lies.
If you want a better stick to beat them with, try the argument that they should have put the word ‘people’ in the document, or just started with human-focussed policy.
the other thing that pisses me off with the memery is that it’s being presented as if Labour or the Greens won’t do anything else this campaign. This will be the big sign around their neck that people will pretend is their defining moment. In reality I think most voters will be looking at things that are more relevant to them (other policies) and taking note of how the MSM are responding (hence Ad’s point).
“And tbh, this is an ongoing refrain from you, Labour especially can do no right… “
And yet, it was only the other week I was commending Labour on their stance regarding defence expenditure which you yourself responded too. Therefore, so much for your assertion and what you can see.
The response from the left has largely been disappointment. Even the Council of Trade Unions has also come out against the announcement. How that will feed down to the foot-soldiers and those not in the beltway is yet to be seen.
The Greens and Labour created this so-called stick and a number of us lefties feel it’s them beating us with it, hence the disappointment that’s been widely expressed.
I just see a whole lot of rhetoric and not a lot of detail on what the actual problem is. And tbh, this is an ongoing refrain from you, Labour especially can do no right, so I’m going to take it with a grain of salt.
I don’t know why it is seen as a right wing policy.
Logic says that you cut your cloth to match your budget.
You get $100 in tax in – spend no more or slightly less than $100 and your budget is good.
Spend more than you earn and over time you end up in the poo financially.
(Think the USA, Japan, Greece etc.)
Not rocket science – what you spend your $100 on (quality of spending) now that is where you can have disagreements but anyone advocating spending deficits year after year need to go back to school – it never ends well.
In what way are the USA or Japan in the poo financially? We know why Greece has problems, they have a Central bank they don’t control and its sometimes working against them, but what are the problems for the others you mentioned.
I hear this kind of clueless argument all the time, why the f*ck does everyone seem to think that fiat money is a fixed resource or that governments are bound by the same rules as a household or small business??
Basically, yeah. I have spent time in Afghanistan, including this province (but not this particular valley). The villages tend to spill out along the valleys so I can see how there can be confusion.
Not really like a suburb – think rural areas where the houses are scattered but there are also a few clumped together.
I think the NXDF are deliberately muddying the waters and trying to create doubt. They have been careful not to claim Stephenson is lying – we all remember how that worked out for them last time.
Great Karen. Thanks for link to Jon’s response.Our basic wondering if the Defence Force attacked the wrong village is sort of right. Both The Defence Force and H&S have agreement on most of the events up to who was shot and by whom.
If the 2 parties can agree on the villages attacked then the justice question is all on again and H&S reputation is OK.
Corruption? Of course, when there is this amount of money at stake. But don’t worry, any corruption will be retrospectively legalised.
Another callous betrayal of democracy by our supposed “government”, I wish they would rename themselves the “foreign money” party because they certainly don’t have the “national” interest at heart.
the chinese premier probably had a word to Blinglish about it and advised him to let it slide. FFS
How many times during the campaign did the Chump say something like “I alone can fix it”? Seems like the plan is to put Jared onto it. No matter what it is.
It addresses some of the contradictions in the Internet Party, between apparent online democracy with a leftish lean, and Dotcom’s neoliberal libertarianism. It concludes that Kim Dotcom is an alt-right populist, like Trump, and uses trolling of his enemy (John Key), as a form of resistance.
The article is a lot about the “affect” of the internet: ie the impact of online activities on the body and emotions, potentially unleashing creativity. And it has a lot about “jouissance” – pleasure, fun, playfulness – including the fun to be had from trolling the enemy.
The abstract:
The New Zealand Internet Party tested key notions of affective media politics. Embracing techno-solutionism and the hacker politics of disruption, Kim Dotcom’s party attempted to mobilise the youth vote through an irreverent politics of lulz. While an electoral failure, the party’s political discourse offers insights into affective media ontology. The social character of affective media creates the political conditions for an antagonistic political discourse. In this case affective identification in the master signifier “The Internet” creates a community of enjoyment, threatened by the enemy of state surveillance as an agent of rapacious jouissance. The Internet Party’s politics of lulz was cast as a left-wing techno-fix to democracy, but this rhetoric belied a politics of cyberlibertarianism. Dotcom’s political intervention attempted to conflate his private interests as a battle that elevates him to the status of cyberlibertarian super-hero in the mould of Edward Snowden or Julian Assange.
There’s a lot of theory in the first part of the article. the stuff on the Internet Party really starts at p343.
It is interesting – but why oh why is it so theoretically dense!? This means some important ideas are not accessible to the general public.
Just finished reading it. One thing the article argues is that the whole Loomio app that promised direct democracy, was a mask for right wing cyber-libertarianism. ie it mimicked the Occupy movement’s approach but using technology rather than face-to-face debates.
Ultimately, the author, Jutel, claims that the whole Loomio thing operated more as a focus group, informing the IP organisers of what the membership was thinking. However, it was not committed to doing anything radical as a result of this consultation.
it is critical of the MOT (Moment of Truth) as actually using right wing tactics for an allegedly left wing agenda. It was about painting John Key and the GCSB as ultimate evil, rather than providing a critical debate. I tend not to agree on the latter re Glenn Greenwald and Snowden. The author is somewhat dismissive of the concerns about the GCSB’s involvement in mass surveillance.
However, I do agree that the MOT ended with Dotcom using it to promote his new encrypted Mega system. It was using the event for a capitalist profit-motive PR statement.
There’s a lot in the article. Also new to me was the idea of online trolling being a specific form of online behaviour that is seen by some as resisting entrenched power: ie a form of fun that playfully denigrates a selected enemy, and superficially makes the troller feel they are doing something significant.
The underlying message though, is to beware of claims for a technological solution to the decaying of democratic process. These tend to follow the logic of capitalist-created technologies.
Companies that commit wage theft and put their workers in harm’s way just received a favor from the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump signed a bill Monday repealing a regulation that had encouraged federal contractors to follow labor laws. Under the Obama-era rule, companies with an egregious record of violating wage and safety laws would lose their government contracts if they didn’t come into compliance.
The idea behind the rule was to make sure unscrupulous employers didn’t receive taxpayer dollars. But Republicans in Congress thought the rule was too punitive and unfair to businesses. They used an arcane tool known as the Congressional Review Act in an effort to kill the regulation, which was called the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule.
By approving the legislation sent to him by the Senate, Trump has ensured not only that the regulation will die, but also that no similar regulation can be put forth by the Labor Department again. Trump signed the legislation at a White House ceremony in front of the press.
my close friend carol just sent me this link. haven’t had time to check it yet but apparently it’s the camera footage of the raid and proves hager right!!!
Discussion of Basic Income Guarantees. A subtle reading points out why the L/G fiscal conservatism anouncements are a disaster for any BIG policy advocates. Also explains why TOPs policy position is barely different from benefit rates.
Not really. By the time L/G get to talking about a UBI seriously (2nd term) they’ll be in a position to talk about making economic changes generally. Best vote in the people most likely to support that. The Greens have all their policies costed btw.
TOP’s current policy is a big increase for *some beneficiaries. The Big Kahuna is basically a massive benefit cut unless you can supplement your income somehow. I have no idea how they reconcile those two things and TOP don’t appear to want to clarify.
Its pretty clear what is behind the TOP proposals. For various reasons they are ‘fiscally neutral’ as they state. Unless L/G start using different accounting when they start ‘seriously’ looking at a UBI they will draw similar conclusions (or abandon their conservative economic position). But even hypothetical discussions here drew similar conclusions to TOPs position about a UBI.
I already watched the Labour party anounce a good policy to provide a job guarantee to youths…and the back peddeling which followed shortly after when it was suggested more youths than estimated might want such a job. They didn’t have anything to say about that since from what I saw. Thats the issue with this fiscal conservatism it severely limits what you can propose, and if taken seriously what your government can do.
If its real the government is (as National would have it) beholden to the wealthy who do pay the bulk of the taxes.
Nobody expects L/G to go all George Osborne on the economy, but on that it was a short lived delusion of his and after causing the second dip in the UK recession he clearly gave up actually practicing what he continued to preach.
“But even hypothetical discussions here drew similar conclusions to TOPs position about a UBI.”
Some did, some didn’t. I can’t see any point in a UBI that throws vulnerable people under a bus just to attain an abstraction like fiscal neutrality. At that point it just looks like a rearrangement of taxation to cope with high unemployment. It’s not welfare (in the positive sense of making sure everyone is ok).
“I already watched the Labour party anounce a good policy to provide a job guarantee to youths…and the back peddeling which followed shortly after when it was suggested more youths than estimated might want such a job. They didn’t have anything to say about that since from what I saw. Thats the issue with this fiscal conservatism it severely limits what you can propose, and if taken seriously what your government can do.”
Fair enough (I didn’t follow that at the time). Thing is, you seem to think the budget policy is set in stone forever, that the Greens are the same as Labour, and that nothing will ever change. That might be true (except for the bit about the Greens). Or they get stuck into the first term with enough left wing support and then they can do some actual policy changes to build on. I get that you and others think that the budget policy is fundamental to everything else, I just don’t see why.
“Nobody expects L/G to go all George Osborne on the economy,”
You sure about that? You might not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some do.
“You sure about that? You might not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some do.”
Have not seen it. Thats not the meaning of austrity, which just means literally living within your means, and in this context I would take to mean abiding by these fiscal promises.
“Thing is, you seem to think the budget policy is set in stone forever”
Of course the degree to which the rule is abided by matters but these are the problems with it.
1) Its being formulated somewhat independent of the elected politicians. When politicians get their budgets wrong we can stop electing them. When appointed individuals get them wrong (such as reserve bank officials) we don’t have the same kind of comeback. This dynamic has effected inflation and unemployment rates (part of reserve bank responsibility) for quite some time.
2) Say surpluses over the cycle is achieved. Then we know that the sum of the three sectors balances, the govt, the external, and the domestic private sector, is zero. This means the domestic private sector must increase its borrowing to fund both the government surplus plus the current account deficit. That means probably a continued student debt expansion and housing bubble expansion in line with Labour 5.
3) any kind of policy debates will be held up to how well they stack up regarding this. This will continue to undermine what can be proposed and achieved. It also perpetuates the unhealthy state of public debate on these kinds of topics.
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Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
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Operation Burnham ?
more like Operation “burn them”
If we (NZ) were not in Afghanistan there is a strong possibility that one particular 3 year old girl would still be alive.
I don’t want my taxes used to kill children.
Is it possible that in spite of all the high tech, the Burnham operation attacked the wrong village? If so, then the “terrorists” killed were in fact the civilians.
Yes it looks possible that they went to the wrong village , raided it , killed people, and then set about obfusticating this fact. and now they are in too deep to stop
The reports of fully geo-located video footage of the event would not support that.
I’d suggest that they put it in front of a inquiry. I do a lot of GPS work, it isn’t as nearly cut and dried as you seem to think because it depends heavily on the underlying mapping.
BTW: Welcome back after an even more welcome absence. You appear to have retained the same old naive and trusting dumb fool characteristics that I remember of old. A supine bootlicker of the words of authority.
I’d love an inquiry…. in fact, we should go whole-hog on this. The longer it goes on, the more shows how inept Hager is.
As far as GPS work… military-grade GPS equipment is never out by 2km’s…. just sayin’
BTW: Haven’t been absent. You appear to have retained the same old naive and trusting dumb fool characteristics that I remember of old. A supine bootlicker of the words of a discredited “journalist”.
But where a map says a village is could be out by 2km.
I was doing some image work on this at the request of someone on twitter- here are the two claims of where Operation Burnham happened, and the nearby populated areas that Toby Manhire identified:
https://twitter.com/MJWhitehead/status/846518706943410176
Both NZDF and the map from Hit & Run agree as to where Hit & Run claim the operation occured.
Presumably the liars at NZDF didn’t think that anyone would compare the two accounts.
The NZDF needs an enema.
The longer it goes on, the more shows how inept Hager is.
It appears that John Stephenson is responsible for most, if not all, of the investigative work on the ground.
It’s quite inept of you not to realise this: your infantile hatred of Hager has you blind and flailing.
Your hatred of the NZDF seems to be driving your bias as well.
As someone who works on miitary geo location systems I assure you something would have to go very wrong for it to put the team 2Km out of position.
It is possible they were in the wrong place but if they were the footage will show where their location was and will either support or refute the accusations.
Depends if it’s footage of the same op, and if it’s been edited. We’ve seen before that video footage released by military organisations is often edited before it’s used as “proof” they did nothing wrong.
I’m still not convinced as to why members of the SAS would come forward with such a story if they weren’t whistleblowers- do we actually have any proposed motive for Hager and Stepenson’s sources to lie?
These are both very respected journalists, one of who recently won a case where the NZDF tried to sue him for defamation, and the other who is New Zealand’s only internationally accredited investigative journalist.
We should have an independent investigation reporting to all parliamentary parties that de-classifies the relevant material and brings as much as possible out into the open. If that investigation finds war crimes were committed, then criminal charges should be brought.
Please feel free to back up that accusation with some evidence of edited footage from the NZDF that was done deliberately to miss lead the public.
Yes both journalists are respected (by many of us in the NZDF) however so are many of the people you are choosing to assume are lying.
Have a read of this crashcart. With respect to Major General Keating, it was not so much that he lied but he certainly obscured the truth about what “village” was involved in the SAS raid:
http://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/28-03-2017/hit-run-author-jon-stephenson-responds-to-wrong-village-riposte-from-nz-defence-force/
I’m not specifically talking about the NZDF tampering with evidence, I don’t have a prior example of that to hand, although I suppose it’s possible one exists, I’ve never heard of it. I am talking about militaries around the world involved in similar behaviour to cover their asses when wrongdoing has been discovered. I would like to hope the NZDF can be held to the higher standard than foreign militaries, but to simply believe so without independent verification now that an accusation is in the public sphere without gathering any independent evidence to confirm seems the very height of naivety.
I do not assume the NZDF is lying. I assume it is possible that they are lying, just like I also assume it is possible that Hager and Stephenson may be made mistakes while still following good journalistic practice. One of those two things is the case, and that is why we should have an independent inquiry that doesn’t rely on us either taking the journalists’ accounts as truth or the NZDF’s evidence at face value.
Prison guard’s personal files given to gang leaders. Gangs the Killer Beez and Black Power have the opportunity to intimidate proceedings in an upcoming trial. What does this gross violation say about our Dep’t of Corrections and what action will they take to secure the safety of witnesses?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/prison-guards-personal-files-given-to-gang-leaders.html
I don’t think that physical files being given to gang members constitutes an error.
Interesting framing in that story: their personal files were found in prisoners’ cells.
Where else were they supposed to keep them?
It says nothing whatsoever about the Dept. of Corrections, because the mistake was made by the Police.
Also, the files were given to the prisoners lawyer under disclosure according to RNZ.
He/she must have noticed the info contained, why did they give the files to their clients knowing it contained sensitive information?
…must have noticed…
Your faith in eyesight is charming and sweet and does you credit.
Also your faith in lawyers.
lol yeah that pretty much covers all bases
lol
Will the Green’s and Labour’s new conservative fiscal position cost them support?
Sure, they may win-over a number of swing voters, but at what price?
The Right are largely delighted, the Left are largely disappointed while a number are bewildered.
The next political poll which takes this announcement into account will be interesting.
As they are the two main parties of the so-called Left, will their Left supporters swallow this dead rat simply because they feel they have nowhere else to turn? Or will Winston be the winner of the fallout?
Personally, I often wonder why more from the left haven’t drifted towards the Democrats (for social credit).
http://www.democrats.org.nz/
So a sensible economic policy is a negative for the Labour/Green bloc? Sounds like a panic reaction to a solid and well thought out Labour/Green bloc announcement to me.
There are many ways of re-focusing government spending on different priorities while maintaining balanced or surplus books, as the last 9-year Labour government showed.
sensible economic policy…in other words a continuation of austerity…an economic policy working so well for the working people all around the Western/developed world….yup….
Well for instance the Lab/Gr bloc may take a couple of billion out of the Roads of National Significance bloated budget and put that into state housing construction.
There are many options. You have to win the election first.
This has no impact on whether or not a Lab/Gr bloc decide to refocus expenditure.
What it does do is it limits their overall expenditure options.
Not quite, as there’s nothing in the fiscal rules preventing them raising extra revenue, it just states that they’ll try to run net surpluses over an economic cycle. (ie. their surpluses should add up to more than their deficits) The Greens want more revenue, Labour would prefer not to raise income tax or implement new taxes at the moment. It would seem likely that their coalition deal might allow for some revenue generation to make more room for everyone’s spending priorities.
Well, if you believe their rhetoric on the economy, (and I have no reason not to just yet) they have ruled out austerity politics as part of their fiscal rulebook. You and they might not agree on where the line actually sits for what constitutes austerity, but you can bank on the Greens never voting for a budget with any significant austerity measures, even if you distrust Labour.
The thing is, Matthew, now that they’ve made the public commitment (and if we are to take them on good faith) they will try to uphold that commitment. Thus, greater effort will go into constraining policy and its related expenditure to ensure it meets their commitment, hence placing limits on their expenditure and their ability to do more sooner.
The Greens would never have made this commitment in the first place if it implied austerity, which is why sufficient spending on services is written into the rules. Yes, the Greens will try to follow them in a way that leads to an acceptable budget. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to compromise their core values to do so, they’re pretty touchy about that sort of thing.
With expenditure being somewhat capped, surpluses being sought and funding being syphoned off to meet self set debt repayments, it is unlikely sufficient spending on services will be achieved.
The cap being set is lower than past expenditure and clearly needs were not being met back then.
When Labour last left office, core crown expenditure was at 35.5% of GDP. Yet, 175,000 kids were deemed to be living in poverty after nine years of strong economic growth. Things have become far more worse now, hence significant expenditure is required.
“Yes, the Greens will try to follow them in a way that leads to an acceptable budget. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to compromise their core values to do so “
Which explains why oversight of the new self imposed rules will be given to a new independent costing unit. Therefore, they may not totally compromise their core values but the independent costing unit will ensure they have less to spend on them.
Of course we don’t know how this works out in practice yet, but I have a high degree of confidence how this works in theory (why its being advocated as a good idea). The central premise is that government spending is crowding out non government spending. A more drastic notion also considred here is called Ricardian equivalence, meaning that non government spending is presently being held back for fear of having to pay future taxes. Both these ideas correspond to another concept of fiscal multipliers being less than one (so every doller of government spending causes less than a doller of national income to result). This is the big idea the IMF used and later concluded was wrong when forecasting and suggesting reforms to the Greeks.
Of course in every day parlance the notion that government net income cuts will probably result in a non government net spending boom, would be called wishfull thinking. Never the less that is probably the conventional wisdom behind this idea. Who knows Labour 5 got lucky on this before.
“sensible economic policy…in other words a continuation of austerity…an economic policy working so well for the working people all around the Western/developed world….yup….”
Where’s the austerity? Seriously, I’d be interested to know where you see it in the document. I’d also be interested in say 3 comparable policies from overseas. Not austerity policies, but ones that match what L/G announced.
Some would argue such a constraining fiscal position (preventing government from doing what’s required, thus prolonging the turnaround) is far from sensible when so much more needs correcting.
Some would also argue the last 9-year Labour government refocusing of expenditure did little to prevent the dire situation a number face today.
Therefore, it’s not a panic reaction, more a difference of opinions.
The question is, will it be a vote winner?
It won’t be a vote winner or vote loser. Not designed to be.
It’s designed solely for the media commentariat so they feel comfortable.
It may have been designed solely for the media, but the position (like most political positioning) is impacting on voters decisions. I personally know of several that have been deterred by this self constraining stance.
Deterred meaning “will change who they vote for”?
To whom?
Probably become a non-vote.
It does raise a lot of questions, though this new fiscally conservative stance Lab green has taken, they’ve promised a lot so what’s going to get cut.?
I do think they’ve unfortunately fallen into the same trap again, where they’re going to spending all their time explaining how this is going to be achieved which will result in undoubtedly poor financial figures which will then be ripped apart by the media and once again Labour will look like incompetent pillocks that they are, handing the election to National.
National plant Grant Robertson brings home the gold for the blue team yet again, he’s such an asset that man and doesn’t get the kudos he deserves.
NZF was mentioned a number of times.
“It’s designed solely for the media commentariat so they feel comfortable.”
That’s what I reckon too. Now there is a baseline for the rest of the election campaign, so each time someone starts on about the scarey, fiscally irresponsible lefties (esp the Greens) they have a sound reference document. It presents not just Labour as competent but the potential L/G coalition. NZ is ready for change, but they’re only going to change to something pretty stable.
“NZ is ready for change, but they’re only going to change to something pretty stable”
And the other side of the coin is some see this as Labour (and now the Greens) falling short again and being little more than National lite.
Therefore, Labour and the Greens better hope this attracts more support than what it might potentially end up costing them as a number of supporters are unhappy.
“And the other side of the coin is some see this as Labour (and now the Greens) falling short again and being little more than National lite.”
Yeah, really old argument that one though, and it’s bollocks. On pretty much every conceivable measure, including this budget policy, it’s pretty easy to demonstrate important difference.
This one policy doesn’t suddenly make all the Greens’ policies or kaupapa RW. That’s daft.
Besides, if people want a govt left of National where are they going to go if they don’t vote L/G?
It may be an old argument (Labour has been falling short for years) but it’s not total bollocks.
This announcement has got a number of peoples hackles raised for this very reason.
The important differences as you put is merely what others consider the lite side of National Lite.
This positioning impacts expenditure, hence is tied to all policy and plays into the neo-liberal dogma. Therefore, while it doesn’t necessarily make the Greens totally right wing it has moved them further to the right.
“Besides, if people want a govt left of National where are they going to go if they don’t vote L/G?”
Some will turn to NZF, others will drift towards TOP. Hone and co may pick up a few and so too will some of the other stragglers, but the real concern is how many more will become disenfranchised, further reducing the left voter block?
Those aren’t people that want a left wing govt though.
This positioning impacts expenditure, hence is tied to all policy and plays into the neo-liberal dogma. Therefore, while it doesn’t necessarily make the Greens totally right wing it has moved them further to the right.
It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the Greens. Of course in 2017 they’re going to use tools that work within the neoliberal framework. They won’t get to be part of govt if they don’t. But the Greens don’t operate within the traditional L/R spectrum that you are portraying. Lynn calls them orthogonal to that. This is why people get confused, and then think ah, if they’re not left they must be right. It’s just not true.
If people have been concerned about National Lite they could have voted Green a decade or more ago when they were more ‘left’. Had the Greens been on 15% ten years ago, they’re be on 25% this year and able to do the things that people are wanting from them. But lots of lefties wouldn’t vote for them, so they’ve adapted. But that doesn’t mean they are neoliberal. Go read their Charter and other kaupapa docs, because this and all their policy can only be understood within that.
It’s the same stuff about Shaw being neoliberal because he wears a suit. People used to say this about Norman too btw until it became obvious that he wasn’t. Shaw has green cred, that’s why he’s co-leader.
It’s true that some people will be thinking the Greens sold out. More of a problem than that inaccurate perception is that too many lefties are pushing that now as a meme. I’m still yet to see a decent explanation other than this generalised assertion that x must mean y. No-one has said why yet, and few here have engaged with Matthew Whitehead’s interpretation of the policy. That tells me a lot.
> But the Greens don’t operate within the traditional L/R spectrum that you are portraying.
My 2c: I see that you could have a Green Party that was neither left nor right, but having had a look at the policies and people of this Green Party of NZ, this ain’t it.
A.
how so?
It’s not that if they’re not left they must be right, It’s how right are they’re prepared to go and how right will their left supporters put up with?
This latest positioning isn’t minor. But will it tip the balance and cost them support? Time will tell.
It’s the most left wing feathers I’ve seen the Greens ruffle in a while.
Labour supporters are more used to being let down.
I engaged with Matthew Whitehead above.
@weka
Before I launch into an explanation, can I set out that I think a left wing party has these qualities:
– seeks to increase taxes and increase social spending
– supports underprivileged groups (e.g. women, Maori, beneficiaries)
– seeks to give rights to tenants (cf landlords), workers (cf employers), and beneficiaries (cf workers)
– lacks confidence in market solutions.
Not much point me going on if you don’t think those are left wing qualities.
A.
They’re not going right, that’s the point (which you missed).
“I engaged with Matthew Whitehead above.”
Briefly. I’m talking about over the past week.
Oh, I see. I mistakenly thought you were saying the NZ Green Party was not a left wing party (which of course they are). My bad
While you may not perceive this as a move to the right, a number do.
Whether that increases or costs them support is yet to be seen.
However, one wonders if they envisaged the disappointment and uproar the announcement attracted?
Assuming that you’re right and that this is just the beginning of an orchestrated PR strategy to make the “media commentariat” feel comfortable – relaxed and comfortable; that rings a bell from the not so distant past – I fail to see two things: 1) what is the intended role of said “media commentariat”; 2) why not talk directly to, or more importantly, with the people rather than relying on a willing MSM to do the heavy lifting?
For a long time there has been a strong feeling or perception rather that NZ MSM have an anti-Left bias to frame it loosely. So, is this a step-wise strategy to win them over in order to then next win over the voters?
So far, some of the people that have cheered the BRR are distinctly on the right side of the political spectrum and some of the people that have been less than impressed and unconvinced are on the left. Surely, this must make you question whether this strategy might result in blowback.
The MSM is the winning and losing of any election.
We’ve still got a while to go in this country before that’s different.
Remember why the National “rowing the boat” attack ad was so effective last time.
The only negative blowback will be from a tiny group of moist hard-lefties who have nowhere to go other than the Greens. If they go any further left than that, their votes won’t register in Parliament anyway.
O.k. I fully admit naïvely giving MSM less credit and the ‘average’ voter more credit in determining the outcome of elections.
IIRC the “rowing boat” was an ad by National for (in) MSM, not something fabricated by MSM. But I guess you refer to the context or the background against which this ad was projected.
“moist”??
“Remember why the National “rowing the boat” attack ad was so effective last time.”
Indeed, it portrayed the opposition all rowing in different directions. However, I don’t see why Labour and the Greens believe that rowing in the Right direction will win over their Left wing supporters.
Their rationale seems to be as you suggested. They believe their left wing support is minimal, has nowhere else to turn, thus will largely swallow this dead rat.
Most left wing voters won’t even register this policy at that level you are talking about, and those that do won’t care as much as you think. Sue Bradford said there were Greenies concerned, which I’m sure is true, but if they’re talking to her, they’re politicised and understand well enough where the value in their vote lies.
If you want a better stick to beat them with, try the argument that they should have put the word ‘people’ in the document, or just started with human-focussed policy.
the other thing that pisses me off with the memery is that it’s being presented as if Labour or the Greens won’t do anything else this campaign. This will be the big sign around their neck that people will pretend is their defining moment. In reality I think most voters will be looking at things that are more relevant to them (other policies) and taking note of how the MSM are responding (hence Ad’s point).
“And tbh, this is an ongoing refrain from you, Labour especially can do no right… “
And yet, it was only the other week I was commending Labour on their stance regarding defence expenditure which you yourself responded too. Therefore, so much for your assertion and what you can see.
The response from the left has largely been disappointment. Even the Council of Trade Unions has also come out against the announcement. How that will feed down to the foot-soldiers and those not in the beltway is yet to be seen.
The Greens and Labour created this so-called stick and a number of us lefties feel it’s them beating us with it, hence the disappointment that’s been widely expressed.
I just see a whole lot of rhetoric and not a lot of detail on what the actual problem is. And tbh, this is an ongoing refrain from you, Labour especially can do no right, so I’m going to take it with a grain of salt.
I don’t know why it is seen as a right wing policy.
Logic says that you cut your cloth to match your budget.
You get $100 in tax in – spend no more or slightly less than $100 and your budget is good.
Spend more than you earn and over time you end up in the poo financially.
(Think the USA, Japan, Greece etc.)
Not rocket science – what you spend your $100 on (quality of spending) now that is where you can have disagreements but anyone advocating spending deficits year after year need to go back to school – it never ends well.
In what way are the USA or Japan in the poo financially? We know why Greece has problems, they have a Central bank they don’t control and its sometimes working against them, but what are the problems for the others you mentioned.
I hear this kind of clueless argument all the time, why the f*ck does everyone seem to think that fiat money is a fixed resource or that governments are bound by the same rules as a household or small business??
Get a clue mate: http://www.positivemoney.org.nz/
Government can spend more than it earns and come out on top if the expenditure results in producing larger returns going forward.
Stiglitz also said “the likelihood of a default is so small, particularly in the US because all we do is print money to pay it back.”
Just in case that doesn’t work out either.
The Spinoff have a response from Jon Stephenson to the ‘wrong village’ claim made by the NZDF.
http://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/28-03-2017/hit-run-author-jon-stephenson-responds-to-wrong-village-riposte-from-nz-defence-force/#.WNkEEMvnIUA.twitter
so when one is in Mt. Eden are they not in Auckland?
That seems to be the gist of it?
Basically, yeah. I have spent time in Afghanistan, including this province (but not this particular valley). The villages tend to spill out along the valleys so I can see how there can be confusion.
That makes sense. Suburbs in towns. Still its the same place and it still looks like a cover up.
Not really like a suburb – think rural areas where the houses are scattered but there are also a few clumped together.
I think the NXDF are deliberately muddying the waters and trying to create doubt. They have been careful not to claim Stephenson is lying – we all remember how that worked out for them last time.
Good response – why the authorities spin the bullshit from English down I’ll never understand – it always goes wrong and ends in a world of pain
Great Karen. Thanks for link to Jon’s response.Our basic wondering if the Defence Force attacked the wrong village is sort of right. Both The Defence Force and H&S have agreement on most of the events up to who was shot and by whom.
If the 2 parties can agree on the villages attacked then the justice question is all on again and H&S reputation is OK.
Quarter of a million hectares sold into overseas ownership illegally since 2011,validated retrospectively by OIO.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1703/S00470/quarter-of-a-million-hectares-sold-into-overseas-ownership.htm
The smell of corruption in the air?
Corruption? Of course, when there is this amount of money at stake. But don’t worry, any corruption will be retrospectively legalised.
Another callous betrayal of democracy by our supposed “government”, I wish they would rename themselves the “foreign money” party because they certainly don’t have the “national” interest at heart.
the chinese premier probably had a word to Blinglish about it and advised him to let it slide. FFS
How many times during the campaign did the Chump say something like “I alone can fix it”? Seems like the plan is to put Jared onto it. No matter what it is.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-taps-kushner-to-lead-a-swat-team-to-fix-government-with-business-ideas/2017/03/26/9714a8b6-1254-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html?utm_term=.bb45b4dce7b0
You could almost feel sorry for the guy. He might be feeling a bit like this guy…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGUNPMPrxvA
Bring all the troops home.
No more wars, we have no business in.
The Amnesty International New Zealand petition regarding the S.A.S. and the Afghanistan raids can be found here.
https://www.amnesty.org.nz/did-nz-commit-war-crimes?take-action
I’m well into reading this academic article on NZ’s Internet Party. It’s pretty dense.
It addresses some of the contradictions in the Internet Party, between apparent online democracy with a leftish lean, and Dotcom’s neoliberal libertarianism. It concludes that Kim Dotcom is an alt-right populist, like Trump, and uses trolling of his enemy (John Key), as a form of resistance.
The article is a lot about the “affect” of the internet: ie the impact of online activities on the body and emotions, potentially unleashing creativity. And it has a lot about “jouissance” – pleasure, fun, playfulness – including the fun to be had from trolling the enemy.
The abstract:
There’s a lot of theory in the first part of the article. the stuff on the Internet Party really starts at p343.
That looks really interesting, both the KDC analysis and the affect bit.
“The social character of affective media creates the political conditions for an antagonistic political discourse.”
Now why does that sound familiar? 😉
It is interesting – but why oh why is it so theoretically dense!? This means some important ideas are not accessible to the general public.
Just finished reading it. One thing the article argues is that the whole Loomio app that promised direct democracy, was a mask for right wing cyber-libertarianism. ie it mimicked the Occupy movement’s approach but using technology rather than face-to-face debates.
Ultimately, the author, Jutel, claims that the whole Loomio thing operated more as a focus group, informing the IP organisers of what the membership was thinking. However, it was not committed to doing anything radical as a result of this consultation.
it is critical of the MOT (Moment of Truth) as actually using right wing tactics for an allegedly left wing agenda. It was about painting John Key and the GCSB as ultimate evil, rather than providing a critical debate. I tend not to agree on the latter re Glenn Greenwald and Snowden. The author is somewhat dismissive of the concerns about the GCSB’s involvement in mass surveillance.
However, I do agree that the MOT ended with Dotcom using it to promote his new encrypted Mega system. It was using the event for a capitalist profit-motive PR statement.
There’s a lot in the article. Also new to me was the idea of online trolling being a specific form of online behaviour that is seen by some as resisting entrenched power: ie a form of fun that playfully denigrates a selected enemy, and superficially makes the troller feel they are doing something significant.
The underlying message though, is to beware of claims for a technological solution to the decaying of democratic process. These tend to follow the logic of capitalist-created technologies.
Trump voters winning bigly.
Companies that commit wage theft and put their workers in harm’s way just received a favor from the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump signed a bill Monday repealing a regulation that had encouraged federal contractors to follow labor laws. Under the Obama-era rule, companies with an egregious record of violating wage and safety laws would lose their government contracts if they didn’t come into compliance.
The idea behind the rule was to make sure unscrupulous employers didn’t receive taxpayer dollars. But Republicans in Congress thought the rule was too punitive and unfair to businesses. They used an arcane tool known as the Congressional Review Act in an effort to kill the regulation, which was called the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule.
By approving the legislation sent to him by the Senate, Trump has ensured not only that the regulation will die, but also that no similar regulation can be put forth by the Labor Department again. Trump signed the legislation at a White House ceremony in front of the press.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-repeals-regulation-wage-theft_us_58d9408ee4b03692bea814c9
my close friend carol just sent me this link. haven’t had time to check it yet but apparently it’s the camera footage of the raid and proves hager right!!!
https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
~ tui
Taking the piss eh Tui? Norty, norty girl/boy.
Discussion of Basic Income Guarantees. A subtle reading points out why the L/G fiscal conservatism anouncements are a disaster for any BIG policy advocates. Also explains why TOPs policy position is barely different from benefit rates.
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=35498
Not really. By the time L/G get to talking about a UBI seriously (2nd term) they’ll be in a position to talk about making economic changes generally. Best vote in the people most likely to support that. The Greens have all their policies costed btw.
TOP’s current policy is a big increase for *some beneficiaries. The Big Kahuna is basically a massive benefit cut unless you can supplement your income somehow. I have no idea how they reconcile those two things and TOP don’t appear to want to clarify.
Its pretty clear what is behind the TOP proposals. For various reasons they are ‘fiscally neutral’ as they state. Unless L/G start using different accounting when they start ‘seriously’ looking at a UBI they will draw similar conclusions (or abandon their conservative economic position). But even hypothetical discussions here drew similar conclusions to TOPs position about a UBI.
I already watched the Labour party anounce a good policy to provide a job guarantee to youths…and the back peddeling which followed shortly after when it was suggested more youths than estimated might want such a job. They didn’t have anything to say about that since from what I saw. Thats the issue with this fiscal conservatism it severely limits what you can propose, and if taken seriously what your government can do.
If its real the government is (as National would have it) beholden to the wealthy who do pay the bulk of the taxes.
Nobody expects L/G to go all George Osborne on the economy, but on that it was a short lived delusion of his and after causing the second dip in the UK recession he clearly gave up actually practicing what he continued to preach.
“But even hypothetical discussions here drew similar conclusions to TOPs position about a UBI.”
Some did, some didn’t. I can’t see any point in a UBI that throws vulnerable people under a bus just to attain an abstraction like fiscal neutrality. At that point it just looks like a rearrangement of taxation to cope with high unemployment. It’s not welfare (in the positive sense of making sure everyone is ok).
“I already watched the Labour party anounce a good policy to provide a job guarantee to youths…and the back peddeling which followed shortly after when it was suggested more youths than estimated might want such a job. They didn’t have anything to say about that since from what I saw. Thats the issue with this fiscal conservatism it severely limits what you can propose, and if taken seriously what your government can do.”
Fair enough (I didn’t follow that at the time). Thing is, you seem to think the budget policy is set in stone forever, that the Greens are the same as Labour, and that nothing will ever change. That might be true (except for the bit about the Greens). Or they get stuck into the first term with enough left wing support and then they can do some actual policy changes to build on. I get that you and others think that the budget policy is fundamental to everything else, I just don’t see why.
“Nobody expects L/G to go all George Osborne on the economy,”
You sure about that? You might not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some do.
“You sure about that? You might not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some do.”
Have not seen it. Thats not the meaning of austrity, which just means literally living within your means, and in this context I would take to mean abiding by these fiscal promises.
“Thing is, you seem to think the budget policy is set in stone forever”
Of course the degree to which the rule is abided by matters but these are the problems with it.
1) Its being formulated somewhat independent of the elected politicians. When politicians get their budgets wrong we can stop electing them. When appointed individuals get them wrong (such as reserve bank officials) we don’t have the same kind of comeback. This dynamic has effected inflation and unemployment rates (part of reserve bank responsibility) for quite some time.
2) Say surpluses over the cycle is achieved. Then we know that the sum of the three sectors balances, the govt, the external, and the domestic private sector, is zero. This means the domestic private sector must increase its borrowing to fund both the government surplus plus the current account deficit. That means probably a continued student debt expansion and housing bubble expansion in line with Labour 5.
3) any kind of policy debates will be held up to how well they stack up regarding this. This will continue to undermine what can be proposed and achieved. It also perpetuates the unhealthy state of public debate on these kinds of topics.