Iâm about to give the nicest man on Earth another chance. Counting down â 25 minutes to Mora
He wasn’t too nice this afternoon. He repeated the most flippant putdowns of Edward Snowdon, very like a loyal and dependable Soviet commissar deriding one of those dastardly Jewish doctors in the late 1930s.
Yep – I had to give up M. I tried – even got past some reasonable music (disappointed tho’ – I was hoping for a bit of Sympathy for the Devil).
The guy would be the best advertisement for whoever manufactures Valium I’ve ever come across.
The (70’s drugged up housewife’s) choice, and definitely the nicest man on Earth.
I think I can safely give the guy a miss for another few months.
Really? Peter Dunne is in private discussions with just a political party over questions of security?
Surely every word that man is saying about security “negotiations” should be on the public record.
This issue is not about doing deals.
As for Key’s pushing another TINA*, he just happens to be a party leader who is in the position of Prime Minister at a given moment in time. What makes him think he is the authority?
And trust him? He couldn’t even remember how many Tranzrail shares he had.
This is not a party political issue that is being discussed. The security services belong to all Enzeders.
* (TINA was Thatcher’s name – There Is No Alternative.)
I agree, Logie97, that the security services – and their rights or not to spy on NZers – are, or should be, of interest to all NZers.
I find Dunne now being in private discussions with Key etc over his position on the GCSB Bill incongruous with his stated position just a few days ago. Do they have more that they are holding over Dunne – or is he just out to preserve his job regardless of principles etc? Both are also possible.
Thanks to NRT*, I have also just read this Stuff article re Henry having access to Vance’s movements in and out of Parliament from her security card records the day before her article.
“The journalist who was leaked a sensitive report on the nation’s foreign spy network had her movements tracked by a government inquiry.
The MP forced to resign over the leak, Peter Dunne, said inquiry head David Henry detailed to him the movements of Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance in and out of the parliamentary precinct. …”
All very confusing – this issue is not over yet. The dots are just not connecting …
the turning worm.
Watched Dunne trying to get his points across in the debate on the Psychoactive Substances Bill, while being baited by Banks. When did Banks become a friend to man’s best friend? A Beagle Boy indeed. Did you know SAFE were denied the opportunity to make submissions, and the committee is unlikely to adopt Mathers’ SOP, which Banks supports; LDSO tests are obviously not excluded under the legal regimes in South East Asian countries where these substances are likely to be tested.
Just a prediction:
That bastion of the 4th Estate (‘Stuff’ – an appropriate name if ever there was) reports the media is being drawn into David Bain blame game http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8851997/Media-drawn-into-Bain-blame-game.
I’m now even more uncertain as to his guilt, and I’m not even sure that is the point. I’m waiting for this to become even more politicised to the extent that various counsel and supporters will soon find they are denigrated publicly – probably even including by the junta.
Yes, “the media are being played”.
According to Asst. Police Commissioner Malcolm Burgess, this new theory is only one in “isolation from a vast body of evidence”,” which one piece of circumstantial evidence does not outweigh”.
Unfortunate the entire matter sadly.
Robertson is half the problem. He backed and supported Shearer so that Cunliffe would not become leader. It was clear from the start that Shearer was a lame duck and not up to the job. As soon as Farrar and Hooton and Slater started supporting Shearer the alarm bells should have gone off.
Robertson played the factional game at the time even though he knew that Shearer would fail. Besides do you think that he has what it takes to win an election? He lost the party vote to the Greens in his electorate ffs.
For his careerism and because of his inability to do the job he should never be leader.
Time to start afresh. Cunliffe is the only one who can do the job. If MPs are going to stand in the way they should have their career path drastically altered. Anyone, repeat anyone, who makes a decision based on personal interest should go.
Totally agree Mr Burns Robertson and those who actively supported Shearer in my view.
Firstly if they backed Shearer because they thought Shearer was going to be an amazing leader they clearly have no idea what qualities a leader should have and two after being given a chance Shearer has failed to connect with voters and thats his job.
Thirdly by voting for Shearer over Cunliffe, Shearers voters totally disregarded grass roots members opinions during the membership contest.That being the case those Mp’s who voted against their LECs wishes and those who bullied members need to go. Those MPs have no credibility to work in the best interest of the Party or to represent its members.
Its time for a big clean out in Labour and sorry wont cut it.
Who is the most gifted member of caucus and who is the best match for Key. There is only one answer. There only ever was one answer. That is why Farrar, Slater, Hooton and Boag were running up flags for Shearer in such an overt way. They had their own ABC club.
They threw Shearer in at the deep end on his back story and it was never going to be enough. To expect someone to walk in to that job with virtually no apprenticeship was crazy. It would be like arranging for a builder to build your house without any proper training and experience. To my way of thinking they did Shearer as much a dis-service as they did Cunliffe. Shows they weren’t really thinking of either the party or the country.
What it really shows, if your theory is right, is that the decision makers in labour are completely dim, and can be outwitted by Nat spin doctors. Why would anyone want to put such numpties in charge of a country?
If cunliffe had won, they’d still be concern-tr0lling about challenges from shearer or robertson or mallard. And Key would still be saying cunliffe is in trouble and might be facing a challenge before the end of the year.
McFlock, the difference would be that Cunliffe would accept that the blogosphere is a legitimate part of the Labour consensus. He is an inclusive person. Perhaps that comes from his upbringing in vicarages around the country.
Imagine! A Labour leader in the 21st Century who actually recognises that the blogs are part of the wider democratic process and who does not fear their power!
I look forward to a Labour leader and a Labour Prime Minister who can look both the membership and the public in the eye comfortably, whether in TV debate or on The Standard. Cunliffe has the balls and the ability to argue, (and/or charm), with whomsoever. Cunliffe will move us to a plane higher and firmer than the current swamp.
Unfortunately the member for Wellington Central, (3rd to the Greens), has driven in the wedges that divide the Labour Party. He’s pulling Shearer’s strings like something from Machievelli’s ‘The Prince”, but unfortunately for the Party he has only read the Reader’s Digest version. He lacks the skill and subtlety of a real player and cannot help but reveal his control freak behaviour in the clumsy way he operates. We only have to look at the failure of Red Alert to see that in action.
This is the sort of messianic drivel that just sets âthe faithfulâ up for more heartbreak.
Rubbish. You have taken a quote out of context to the rest of the comment and tried to set it up as some sort of religious revival claptrap. Because Just do it’s views don’t fit in with yours… you discredit and belittle them. It’s a trait of yours and it’s not smart. Grow up!
My wariness at such imagery is from hearing people say similar things about Jim Anderton (among others). The person never matches the unreal expectations. If people don’t like me calling them on it, they can get stuffed.
You are right, CGV.
Cunliffe will unite the party again. Cunliffe has a majority in the Caucus, when you remove the four imbiciles who took graft from Skycity. Those four are politically dead. And Cunliffe always had the most members and Unions.
We can have a leader who never sold out and who talks properly to your mother or to your companys managing director. That should be the basic standard for a Leader. We should not be entertaining a fellow that asks us to pay for hs elecution seasons.
Why thank you. Beneath the surface of every cantankerous cynical Nuclear Power Station owner lies the heart of a leftie environmentalist just dying for Labour to get its stuff together.
But it could be one hell of a sabotage job. Started by the ABC faction and Paddy Gower, and kept up by Hooten Farrar and Slater. Labour ended up with a lame duck and has LOST a year due to this distraction. One can only imagine what could have happened if the ABC faction were shown he door after the last debacle of an election. But they weren’t they just stayed on sucking the life out of the Labour Party. The treatment of Cunliffe was despicable and it drove me from being a life time Labour supporter, to voting Green, and unless something radical is done to A: Get some good policy out that they will support. I was dismayed when Robertson said they were only going to do the power company and everyone else was safe to continue the pillaging. Chris Trotter said it better.
“Grant Robertsonâs statement of 24 April made everything much clearer. According to Grant the energy policy was a one-off, and the business community could rest easy that far from being the harbinger of Labourâs wholesale repudiation of neoliberal ideology, the energy policy was an aberration. No other deviations from the norm were planned, purred Robertson:” http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/06/26/okay-okay-im-un-surrendering-replace-shearer/
B: Listen to the membership they paid their fees, they walk, hammer, post,phone, etc etc every election. Yet they are still being treated like shit, and they are leaving too.
C: Get some new blood Labour is supposed to be a left party, but it is being ruin by dinosaurs with out dated thinking and even more out dated fuckups, I mean if you wanted to go to the Rugby. Well you are paid enough, (so as you don’t need to visit the ‘Enemies’ box.) Buy your own Tickets.
D: Just show some common sense. Shearer is not working, and Labour is on track for a bigger beating than last time. And NZ cannot afford 3 more years of Keys megalomania, and sell it all attitude. And I notice they are after the councils to start selling their assets like the port and Airport shares to pay for covered stadiums and the rail loop. That tells me they must have people just slavering at the thought of all these shares being gifted to them by a compliant government.
TV3’s Paddy Gower was explicitly clear that the detailed notes he took from a Labour caucus member were well outside the “Cunliffe camp” as he put it.
Despite the constitutional rule changes, the membership do not count. Either the media or the caucus need to call clearly for change of leaderhship. Hasn’t happened yet.
In fact caucus show all the signs of just doing another Goff and simply strapping themselves to ride the bomb straight into the ground. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Haaaa!
robertson..?..really..?..you reckon he is the best hope that labour has got..?
..(as noted above..)..did you miss his craven promise to the elites/current-power-paradigm that ‘electricity’ would be the only reform that a labour govt would do..?
..f.f.s..!..isn’t just that a neon-sign/loudhailer telling you that robertson is part of the problem..?
..and i hafta say..having done commentaries on q-time @ parliament for some years now..
..i have probably seen more of robertson in action than most..
..and in that forum..he has generally not impressed..
..(up against ryall in health he was particularly hapless/ineffectual..)
..and using impressions taken from that same window into parliament..
..the only one from labour that makes national/the right sit up straight and pay attention..
..is cunnliffe..
..they are particularly nervous about his follow-up questions..and his ability to instantly pounce on any contradictions in their answers to his interrogations..
..because ‘interrogations’ are what they are..
..and this is a skill that cunnliffe has..
..and that neither shearer nor robertson have..
(n.b..i have never met cunnliffe..and have been snarky about him in the past @ whoar..and i have not voted for labour since the rightwing revolution..
..so i have no party-faction-agenda/barrow..tho’ i do yearn for a labour that returns to its’ roots..
..and does what it was set up originally to do..eh..?)
..robertson is just a leader of those in labour who have still lost their way…
..and making him shearers’ successor will likely guarantee a defeat for the left in just over one year from now..
..much as continuing to cling to the wreck that is shearer will do…
..a labour party/govt led by the nose by the rightwing faction in labour..(who ‘nudge-nudge’/wink!-wink!’ robertson leads)..
..will be as big a disaster for those suffering the most..
..as was the last clark/labour-led govt..
..that bow/promise to the elites to do nothing to rock their boats from robertson –
+2 three meke.
I’ve never really understood why Helen decided to have a cuppa and a lay down in the third term and do absolutely sfa – when there was a golden opportunity to further roll back a bit more of the damage that the Nats had done during the 90s.
Yep – you’re probably correct DtB. I must have been blinded by devotion and admiration of her intellect not to have realised earlier.
That last (3rd) term was a shocker – in terms of laziness, stagnation, complacency and unwillingness to seize the opportunity to reverse the effects of that Ruthenasia era. Seems to me the current Labour scene queens are still in that mode.
I think Peters would have supported a large nation building infrastructure and public transport building programme. He would have supported enhanced healthcare for the elderly and for children. He certainly would have supported massive additions to trade training and skills for young people. And improvements to state provided low cost pensioner housing – a no brainer for Winston to claim credit for.
Just what I was thinking, David H. As a longtime Labour activist I’ve just about given up !
Hate what Key is doing to our country, but cannot bear the thought of voting Labour to get those old hack neo-libs back into power. What’s the alternative ? Greens perhaps !
That tells me they must have people just slavering at the thought of all these shares being gifted to them by a compliant government.
Yep, National are determined to turn us back into a rentier society where most of the people are dependent upon the rich for their well being, i.e, if you don’t please a rich person then your life will be a life of poverty. We saw this in the 19th century but the time most applicable is the time of feudalism.
National are busy taking us backwards several centuries.
Are you all still happy with the new leader election rules of Labour?
Not so much for the process of electing a new leader, rather the unintended consequence of the reluctance to dump an incompetent leader (aka Shearer) due to the uncertainty of who will replace him?
Does this turn the Labour caucus into a bunch of cowards?
Do the rules need to be modified so that the party membership and affiliates can initiate a leadership challenge?
Because from how I see it from the outside, Shearer is an incompetent leader who has very little support apart from the ABC crowd in caucus who are just enough in number to block a leadership challenge.
So you have the membership & unions and reasonable chunk of caucus who want a change but it can’t happen because of a sizable minority of has beens holding up the renewal process and no automatic leadership vote until after 2014?
But I thought that all righties all agreed that Shearer would be a wonderful leader. After all he did give a mango skin to some poor kids once and he did think that it was unfair that a guy painting his roof was receiving ACC. I mean even if the guy did not actually exist being willing to bash an imaginary benefit bludger would be the sort of thing the right would really approve of.
443,000 more people voted for National than Labour at the last election. Who are these people? The rich, some middle classes and aspiring blue collar workers. I wonder how many enrolled non-voters there were at the 2011 election.
That’s a lot of people. I wish they would start to feel angry rather than disinterested in what is happening. If they think not voting is a protest then I wish we could send them the message that voting is a more powerful protest.
“I wish they would start to feel angry rather than disinterested in what is happening.”
You make it sound like they woke up one morning a couple of years ago and decided not to care about politics any more. They didn’t.
They were taught, meticulously and repetitively, by several generations of politicians, that no-one in a position of power, whether left or right wing, gives a stuff about them.
And btw they’re not going to wake up tomorrow morning and unlearn it just because Labour’s middle-of-the-road fan club have decided they like John Key better.
You make it sound like they woke up one morning a couple of years ago and decided not to care about politics any more. They didnât.
They were taught, meticulously and repetitively, by several generations of politicians, that no-one in a position of power, whether left or right wing, gives a stuff about them.
and a clearer demonstration of that indifference/neglect from labour had to be their promise at the last election to bring sole-parents into the families tax-break/subsidy working parents get..
..(and here is the kicker/nose-grind..)..by 2018..
..(i kid you not..this was their election promise to those they have ignored for so long..and who now ignore them..this was the lure to get them back..what were they thinking..?
..and here is the bit to make you sob/despair..shearer/robertson dominated labour have since ditched this policy – as being ‘too radical’..
..’we are still a long way from home will..a long way from home..’.)
..so really..rolling shearer has to be a package-deal..
..make it a twofer…
..bundle up robertson at the same time..
..he also has had long enough to prove he isn’t growing into the job..
From the very moment he was appointed I knew that David Shearer lacked the qualities needed by a political leader. David Cunliffe has some of those qualities but if his colleagues don’t like or trust him, how can he be leader? At the moment anyway.
What about David Parker or Andrew Little?
And Shearer seems to be confident about only one thing: that he will lead the party into the 2014 election. Does he know something Patrick Gower doesn’t or is that pure spindoctoring?
BTW, for a fabulous insight into the nature of leadership and the skulduggery of politics I recommend the Danish TV series Borgen, available on DVD. It’s very relevant to Australian and New Zealand politics.
On TV 3 tonight, Gower cited Cunliffe, Robertson and Little as the ones to watch. Nothing he said indicated whether he was speculating or repeating what he was told, but it left me thinking that if a leadership challenge really is in the pipeline, Robertson might well try to persuade more than one left wing favourite to put their name forward, with a view to splitting the vote.
She may be considered a bit young to bear that level of authority. As CV said of Little, you can wreck people’s future careers by overburdening them too soon – some people think that is the case with Shearer, with regard to parliamentary experience.
Hi Maureen, it has nothing to do with liking and trust. It has everything to do with job security. If you look at who supported Shearer they are all people who had never won a seat properly. They had been given list positions or been given easy seats like mount Albert. Cunliffe has the mana of taking a seat from the Natz.
Cunliffe is respected and a real Trust comes put of that. Parker is not a winner ever. Little has not won a seat. They have not earned a possie on the stage.
Fracking ? See http://www.thedailyshow.com for extended interview with documentary maker Josh Fox on his “Gasland Part Two” for HBO. See people being able to ignite the water coming from their wells in USA heartland …
Thousands gathered to support Wendy Davis in Austin on Thursday night’s filibuster — this marvelous coverage warmed my heart, reminding me of how we used to be willing to do battle here .. the Repubs are such bullies; their skulduggery has to be seen to be believed, even to changing the electronic clock … wonderful reporting by the great Rachel Maddow … prepare to be ready to cheer for these brave and determined ones…. democracy alive in Texas …
But Rick Perry will be back again in a few weeks to try again … watch the interview that follows on the above report and believe the possibility of sea-change in Texas.
Because of yesterday’s day of jubilee, the other, less evolved primates in the Texas legislature are now free to redistrict an end to Davis’s meddlesome political career.
Thx for link Joe90 — they will get this strong woman to run for governor on the back of all this .. did you read the comments section ? Let’s see .. the people are awake and sea change can follow … ripples are the promises the waves make to the flood, and all that ! Wishful thinking ? nah.
Would there actually be any point changing leadership now?
We’re still a far way out, but I think you’d end up like Labour in aussie at the moment. Might as well ride it out with Shearer, wreak him, change leaders?
Yes, there has to be a point to it. Labour will lose under Shearer, almost no doubt about it. He can’t cut it. Cunliffe would be fresh, extremely capable and a brilliant and articulate communicator, likely the best in the House. The diff ‘twixt here and Oz ? We would not be re-selecting a previously-used leader. I dread the future for us all if Gnats get a third term; I seriously doubt we could ever recover from their massive harms.
Bugger the Labour Party… there will be significantly more munted and irrelevant people in NZ if we have another 3 years of Pinokeyo, the fat controller et al.
Would Cunliffe improve Labour’s prospects next year? Possibly. But the heart of the problem is that the Labour Party as a caucus and as an organisation, remains too far away from understanding what NZ needs. Which IMO I will put this way: 12 strong years which will rework the entire economy and set NZ right on track for thriving through peak oil and climate change.
Ride it out….like we did under Goff
Ride it out and let Nats in for another Term.
Ride it out and see our supporters go to e Greens and Mana and even NZ First.
Ride it out is not an option
Ride it out is not an option
Ride it out is not an option
Yeah, let us repeat the same mistakes.
Go Infusion. You are INSPIRED
Am I to understand from that link that they took thousands of reels of acetate and nitrate old films on a plane?
One reel in a car (or your house) would be highly dangerous.
The Nats Auckland Transport announcement; http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10893553
-CRL
-AMETI (east-west link)
-another harbour crossing- twin tunnels; 2025-2030
Despite pressure coming on from the council, and the Greens, total rail trips have to increase from 11M currently, to 20M per annum to have CRL brought forward from 2020 considered.
Along with the proposed double harbour tunnel. Key said that the Christchurch spend was all signed and sealed – unbreakable, but note nothing has been written in concrete about the CRL or the tunnel.
“An amateur litigant who has a court case against MP John Banks under way and plans one against MP Peter Dunne is now advancing the process against Prime Minister John Key.”
(Only found about this today).
It’s potentially quite a big deal.
I mean – whoever expected the DEFENDANT John Banks to end up in the dock, at the Auckland District Court?
A sitting MP, being held accountable in a Court of LAW, to the RULE OF LAW?
Far out!
Whoever may be next………………?
GREAT work Private Prosecutor Graham McCready!
______________________________________________________________________________
An amateur litigant who has a court case against MP John Banks under way and plans one against MP Peter Dunne is now advancing the process against Prime Minister John Key.
Graham McCready, a retired accountant, of Wellington, has filed informations with the Wellington District Court against Key alleging that he broke the Crimes Act by using or authorising illegal surveillance on internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.
He has submitted the same informations against Government Communications Security Bureau head Ian Fletcher.
Deputy registrar Kevin Conroy has acknowledged the informations.
“I now have to consider the matter of the issue of summonses under the provisions of the Summary Procedures Act 1957,” he said.
He said he must be satisfied that the informations and summons disclosed an offence and there was sufficient information to fairly inform the defendants.
McCready is asked to provide a full written summary of the facts.
His case involves a section of the Crimes Act that prohibits the use of interception devices and says “everyone is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years who intentionally intercepts any private communication by means of an interception device”.
Key’s office had no comment.
McCready has previously taken private prosecutions against MPs Trevor Mallard and Banks. The prosecution against Mallard alleged assault, but the Labour MP later pleaded guilty to fighting in a public place in 2007.
In May, Banks pleaded not guilty to a charge alleging he filed a false electoral return in the Auckland mayoralty race three years ago. ”
______________________________________________________________________________
More information (copies of the actual ‘informations’) will be available soon – so you can read them for yourselves.
And as Judge Mills pointed out in the Wellington District Court at law, allegations stand or fall on their own merit, not on the character of the person making the allegations. An upstanding person may totally believe a wrong allegation Burglars don’t not necessarily commit treason.
Why is the system leaving it to a private individual to get John Banks into the dock?
This must leave you with a problem WRT John Key. Does he have an upstanding character with dreadful actions or vice versa.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! He’s living in Limbo!”
Another depraved few minutes on the Panel preshow.
Radio NZ National, Friday 28 June 2013
Jim Mora, Duncan Webb, Sally Wenley
If Red China during the very worst excesses of its crackdowns against “rightists”, “revisionists” and “capitalist running dogs” had had talk radio, this is what it would have sounded likeâŚ.
JIM MORA: It’s a quarter to four, and it’s time for Susan Baldacci and what the wooooooooorld’s talking about! SUSAN BALDACCI: Well today the world is talking about Las Vegas, Nevada, which is getting ready for the hottest temperature ever recorded in the world. MORA: What, on Planet Earth? SUSAN BALDACCI: They are expecting a temperature of— MORA: The hottest temperature on Planet Earth? SUSAN BALDACCI: Yep. It’s 142 Fahrenheit, or 56.7 celsius. MORA: We were talking about the Indian floods but this is a real crisis too isn’t it. SUSAN BALDACCI: It certainly is. The big worry would be if the power went out! MORA:Where was the previous highest temperature? SUSAN BALDACCI: In Australia, I think. MORA: Was it in Australia? SUSAN BALDACCI: Y-y-y-y-yes. MORA: I’ve been in 42 degrees once. But fifty-SIX degrees. That’s amazing! SALLY WENLEY: Oh yes. Amazing!
âŚ.[Long, vacuous pause]âŚ.
MORA: What’s Mr Snowden been up to? SUSAN BALDACCI: Arrrrrggghhhh. He’s not going anywhere! MORA Ha ha ha! SUSAN BALDACCI: He’s still in that transit lounge in Russia! MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! He’s living in Limbo! SALLY WENLEY: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! SUSAN BALDACCI: It looks like he could be going to Ecuador. MORA: Hmmmmm. Ecuador is being extremely aggressive, isn’t it! SUSAN BALDACCI: Yes, they are threatening to CANCEL the trade agreement they have with the United States! MORA: Why? SUSAN BALDACCI: Well, they are going to preemptively reject millions in trade benefits that it could lose by taking in this guy from his limbo in the Moscow airport. They say they are not going to be “blackmailed” by the United States. They want to show their “independence”. MORA: Huh! SALLY WENLEY: Huh! SUSAN BALDACCI: But President Obama has said they are not going to beg anyone to help them get this guy. MORA: Yeah, exactly. SALLY WENLEY: Exactly. MORA: And they said something about how they are offering to give the United States $23 million a year for “human rights training”. SUSAN BALDACCI: Yep, a government spokesman said :”Ecuador will not accept pressures or threats from anyone, and it does not traffic in its values or allow them to be subjugated to mercantile interests.” MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! Good Lord! Ha ha ha! SALLY WENLEY: Ha ha ha ha ha!
See alsoâŚ.
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: âBruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.â
No. 21 Tim Groser: âI think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.â
No. 20 John Key: âBut if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.â
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: âIt is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DONâT!â
No. 18 Ant Strachan: âThe All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!â
No. 17 Stephen Franks: âPeter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.â
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: âTony AbbottâŚhasnât made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.â
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: âI did not lie⌠Colin Powell did not lie.â
No. 14 Colin Powell: âa post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizationsâŚconnections are now emergingâŚâ
No.13 Barack Obama: âSimply put, these strikes have saved lives.â http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: âProtecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UKâs top priorities.â
No. 11 Brendan OâConnor: âAustraliaâs approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.â
No. 10 Boris Johnson: âLondoners have⌠the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.â
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: âNews you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!â
No. 8 Simon Bridges: âI donât mean to duck the questionâŚ.â
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: âQuite frankly, theyâve been VERY tough.â
â¨http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
â¨No. 6 NZ Herald PR dept: âCongratulationsâyouâre reading New Zealandâs best newspaper.ââ¨
â¨No. 5 Rawdon Christie: ââŚa FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.ââ¨http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594â¨
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: âThe X-Factor. Nah, nah, thereâs some GREAT talent there!ââ¨
No. 3 John Key: âYeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.â
â¨No. 2 Colin Craig: âOh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.â
â¨No. 1 Barack Obama: âMargaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.â
—John Key, Radio NZ National Checkpoint, 5:20p.m., Friday 28 June 2013. Host Mary Wilson let him get away with that unchallenged as usual.
Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity ProjectÂŽ, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More appalling humbugâŚ.
No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s⌠integrity beyond reproachâŚsuch great character⌔
â¨No. 3 Dean Lonergan: âYâ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.ââ¨
No. 2 Peter Dunne: âWhat a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbugâŚââ¨
â¨No.1 Dominic Bowden: âItâs okay to be speechless.â
Given the embargo on promoting any candidate on election day, please do NOT make any comments relating to the by election anywhere on The Standard from midnight until after 7pm on Saturday. ThanksâŚ
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai RÄwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasnât gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.Weâve announced we are the âYes Governmentâ. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. Itâs about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. âThe latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while â simultaneously â cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with MÄori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, itâs hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kĹrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whÄnau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it wonât come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of Americaâs virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Memberâs Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The âFluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Billâ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Memberâs Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current âEnvironmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Frameworkâ. âThis Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if todayâs announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between MÄori and the British Crown. Initially inked by NgÄ Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this governmentâs failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealandâs opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting MÄori and Pacific people especially hard, with MÄori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between MÄori and the British Crown. Initially inked by NgÄ Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing â National still wonât commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the countryâs public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader ChlÜe Swarbrick. ...
Te PÄti MÄori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymourâs âcost-savingâ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. âWhatâs the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?â Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the townâs Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mĹ Te KÄhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tĹŤpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tĹŤpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Childrenâs Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her governmentâs terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers â temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymourâs school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Governmentâs move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Governmentâs commitment to get New Zealandâs roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. âIncreasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. âToday I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in WhÄngarei will be offering childhood immunisations â the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Governmentâs record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealandâs strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealandâs national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Governmentâs transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. Itâs a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. âThe racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. âThe latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are âstill both very highâ.â The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawkeâs Bay Fallen Soldiersâ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawkeâs Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealandâs second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. âWe have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mĹ Te KÄhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âThis Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. âA world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed KÄinga Oraâs decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. âIn 2024 KÄinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,â Mr Bishop says. âAs part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. âAs schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamarikiâs review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 Whatâs Up hotline. âWhen I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. âThe Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. âDecember 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labourâs blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. âThe previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. âNational campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 â the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. âThis yearâs Budget will drive forward the Governmentâs plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. âBudget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Governmentâs growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. âJust over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. âThe Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,â says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. âThe change is part of the Governmentâs plan to unlock New Zealandâs potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of KÄinga Oraâs development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âIâve been a strong advocate for social housing on KÄinga Oraâs Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministersâ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.âHealth New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. âI referred the matter of Judge Aitkenâs alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. âLast year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. âOur diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealandâs interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,â Mr Peters says. âIt is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi â without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston Northâs biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whÄnau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. âThe Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
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7.20 and all quiet on Open Mike, has everyone slept in? đ
Have cold, couldn’t get to sleep, watched tennis in the early hours, finally got a few hours sleep…. now…. blurgh!
….and 0820, and there’s hardly any traffic on the road in wgtn city
I was up at 5:01am but decided the shorter daylight hours justified my going back to bed.
Jenny copped a one week ban, and PG has been sulking for months.
Morrissey then?
Still undertaking the eenie meenie miney mo to ascertain todays “lairs of our time”.
catch a tiger by the toe
…when it bites ya head off… you’re bound to let go…
all good things must come to an end, and start all over again.(carry on stringing along fender, had Insomnia and only half-way through today’s shift).
I’m about to give the nicest man on Earth another chance. Counting down – 25 minutes to Mora
Iâm about to give the nicest man on Earth another chance. Counting down â 25 minutes to Mora
He wasn’t too nice this afternoon. He repeated the most flippant putdowns of Edward Snowdon, very like a loyal and dependable Soviet commissar deriding one of those dastardly Jewish doctors in the late 1930s.
Yep – I had to give up M. I tried – even got past some reasonable music (disappointed tho’ – I was hoping for a bit of Sympathy for the Devil).
The guy would be the best advertisement for whoever manufactures Valium I’ve ever come across.
The (70’s drugged up housewife’s) choice, and definitely the nicest man on Earth.
I think I can safely give the guy a miss for another few months.
LAIRS OF OUR TIME
No. 1: Dr. Evilâs Secret Underground Lair
http://i26.tinypic.com/32zq4i0.jpg
lol excellent
Really? Peter Dunne is in private discussions with just a political party over questions of security?
Surely every word that man is saying about security “negotiations” should be on the public record.
This issue is not about doing deals.
As for Key’s pushing another TINA*, he just happens to be a party leader who is in the position of Prime Minister at a given moment in time. What makes him think he is the authority?
And trust him? He couldn’t even remember how many Tranzrail shares he had.
This is not a party political issue that is being discussed. The security services belong to all Enzeders.
* (TINA was Thatcher’s name – There Is No Alternative.)
I agree, Logie97, that the security services – and their rights or not to spy on NZers – are, or should be, of interest to all NZers.
I find Dunne now being in private discussions with Key etc over his position on the GCSB Bill incongruous with his stated position just a few days ago. Do they have more that they are holding over Dunne – or is he just out to preserve his job regardless of principles etc? Both are also possible.
Thanks to NRT*, I have also just read this Stuff article re Henry having access to Vance’s movements in and out of Parliament from her security card records the day before her article.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8853155/Journalists-movements-tracked-by-leak-inquiry
“The journalist who was leaked a sensitive report on the nation’s foreign spy network had her movements tracked by a government inquiry.
The MP forced to resign over the leak, Peter Dunne, said inquiry head David Henry detailed to him the movements of Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance in and out of the parliamentary precinct. …”
All very confusing – this issue is not over yet. The dots are just not connecting …
*http://norightturn.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/spying-on-journalists.html
the turning worm.
Watched Dunne trying to get his points across in the debate on the Psychoactive Substances Bill, while being baited by Banks. When did Banks become a friend to man’s best friend? A Beagle Boy indeed. Did you know SAFE were denied the opportunity to make submissions, and the committee is unlikely to adopt Mathers’ SOP, which Banks supports; LDSO tests are obviously not excluded under the legal regimes in South East Asian countries where these substances are likely to be tested.
All the political parties seem to forget that the entire political system belongs to all NZers and not to the political parties.
David Shearer = No Good Whatsoever
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10893243
Shouldn’t really find amusement in Labours woes…but its just so funny
Just a prediction:
That bastion of the 4th Estate (‘Stuff’ – an appropriate name if ever there was) reports the media is being drawn into David Bain blame game http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8851997/Media-drawn-into-Bain-blame-game.
I’m now even more uncertain as to his guilt, and I’m not even sure that is the point. I’m waiting for this to become even more politicised to the extent that various counsel and supporters will soon find they are denigrated publicly – probably even including by the junta.
Yes, “the media are being played”.
According to Asst. Police Commissioner Malcolm Burgess, this new theory is only one in “isolation from a vast body of evidence”,” which one piece of circumstantial evidence does not outweigh”.
Unfortunate the entire matter sadly.
Looks like Shearer’s heading for the knackers: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8851945/Shearer-in-trouble-Key
Yes, the Shearer installation has been playing well for John Key and Nats.
Moving into the next phase now where Shearer The Awful can occupy the news for another two months.
What a bloody waste of all these months (plus another two months) with the majority of Labour caucus farking around with a hopeless seat warmer.
Arise, Mr Robertson. Pause no longer. Seek thy prize that now lies within thy grasp.
Robertson is half the problem. He backed and supported Shearer so that Cunliffe would not become leader. It was clear from the start that Shearer was a lame duck and not up to the job. As soon as Farrar and Hooton and Slater started supporting Shearer the alarm bells should have gone off.
Robertson played the factional game at the time even though he knew that Shearer would fail. Besides do you think that he has what it takes to win an election? He lost the party vote to the Greens in his electorate ffs.
For his careerism and because of his inability to do the job he should never be leader.
Time to start afresh. Cunliffe is the only one who can do the job. If MPs are going to stand in the way they should have their career path drastically altered. Anyone, repeat anyone, who makes a decision based on personal interest should go.
+1
+1
Totally agree Mr Burns Robertson and those who actively supported Shearer in my view.
Firstly if they backed Shearer because they thought Shearer was going to be an amazing leader they clearly have no idea what qualities a leader should have and two after being given a chance Shearer has failed to connect with voters and thats his job.
Thirdly by voting for Shearer over Cunliffe, Shearers voters totally disregarded grass roots members opinions during the membership contest.That being the case those Mp’s who voted against their LECs wishes and those who bullied members need to go. Those MPs have no credibility to work in the best interest of the Party or to represent its members.
Its time for a big clean out in Labour and sorry wont cut it.
The over-riding factor should be:
Who is the most gifted member of caucus and who is the best match for Key. There is only one answer. There only ever was one answer. That is why Farrar, Slater, Hooton and Boag were running up flags for Shearer in such an overt way. They had their own ABC club.
They threw Shearer in at the deep end on his back story and it was never going to be enough. To expect someone to walk in to that job with virtually no apprenticeship was crazy. It would be like arranging for a builder to build your house without any proper training and experience. To my way of thinking they did Shearer as much a dis-service as they did Cunliffe. Shows they weren’t really thinking of either the party or the country.
What it really shows, if your theory is right, is that the decision makers in labour are completely dim, and can be outwitted by Nat spin doctors. Why would anyone want to put such numpties in charge of a country?
Yes insider, that’s exactly the point. It’s exactly what many of us have been saying all along.
lol
If cunliffe had won, they’d still be concern-tr0lling about challenges from shearer or robertson or mallard. And Key would still be saying cunliffe is in trouble and might be facing a challenge before the end of the year.
McFlock, the difference would be that Cunliffe would accept that the blogosphere is a legitimate part of the Labour consensus. He is an inclusive person. Perhaps that comes from his upbringing in vicarages around the country.
Imagine! A Labour leader in the 21st Century who actually recognises that the blogs are part of the wider democratic process and who does not fear their power!
I look forward to a Labour leader and a Labour Prime Minister who can look both the membership and the public in the eye comfortably, whether in TV debate or on The Standard. Cunliffe has the balls and the ability to argue, (and/or charm), with whomsoever. Cunliffe will move us to a plane higher and firmer than the current swamp.
Unfortunately the member for Wellington Central, (3rd to the Greens), has driven in the wedges that divide the Labour Party. He’s pulling Shearer’s strings like something from Machievelli’s ‘The Prince”, but unfortunately for the Party he has only read the Reader’s Digest version. He lacks the skill and subtlety of a real player and cannot help but reveal his control freak behaviour in the clumsy way he operates. We only have to look at the failure of Red Alert to see that in action.
Cunliffe is not the man you think he is:
Cunliffe will move us to a plane higher and firmer than the current swamp
What rot. This is the sort of messianic drivel that just sets “the faithful” up for more heartbreak.
Rubbish. You have taken a quote out of context to the rest of the comment and tried to set it up as some sort of religious revival claptrap. Because Just do it’s views don’t fit in with yours… you discredit and belittle them. It’s a trait of yours and it’s not smart. Grow up!
My wariness at such imagery is from hearing people say similar things about Jim Anderton (among others). The person never matches the unreal expectations. If people don’t like me calling them on it, they can get stuffed.
You are right, CGV.
Cunliffe will unite the party again. Cunliffe has a majority in the Caucus, when you remove the four imbiciles who took graft from Skycity. Those four are politically dead. And Cunliffe always had the most members and Unions.
We can have a leader who never sold out and who talks properly to your mother or to your companys managing director. That should be the basic standard for a Leader. We should not be entertaining a fellow that asks us to pay for hs elecution seasons.
I totally agree with your summation Mr Burns.
When Shearer got the job as leader he promised to stand aside if he didn’t make a go of it… now’s the time for him to honour that promise.
Mr Burns – you seem to have had a personality change. No sarcasm, no support for the right. For once I agree with you.
Why thank you. Beneath the surface of every cantankerous cynical Nuclear Power Station owner lies the heart of a leftie environmentalist just dying for Labour to get its stuff together.
I think it’s just another side to his very complex personality, which has been hinting through in his past posts as well.
But it could be one hell of a sabotage job. Started by the ABC faction and Paddy Gower, and kept up by Hooten Farrar and Slater. Labour ended up with a lame duck and has LOST a year due to this distraction. One can only imagine what could have happened if the ABC faction were shown he door after the last debacle of an election. But they weren’t they just stayed on sucking the life out of the Labour Party. The treatment of Cunliffe was despicable and it drove me from being a life time Labour supporter, to voting Green, and unless something radical is done to A: Get some good policy out that they will support. I was dismayed when Robertson said they were only going to do the power company and everyone else was safe to continue the pillaging. Chris Trotter said it better.
“Grant Robertsonâs statement of 24 April made everything much clearer. According to Grant the energy policy was a one-off, and the business community could rest easy that far from being the harbinger of Labourâs wholesale repudiation of neoliberal ideology, the energy policy was an aberration. No other deviations from the norm were planned, purred Robertson:”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/06/26/okay-okay-im-un-surrendering-replace-shearer/
B: Listen to the membership they paid their fees, they walk, hammer, post,phone, etc etc every election. Yet they are still being treated like shit, and they are leaving too.
C: Get some new blood Labour is supposed to be a left party, but it is being ruin by dinosaurs with out dated thinking and even more out dated fuckups, I mean if you wanted to go to the Rugby. Well you are paid enough, (so as you don’t need to visit the ‘Enemies’ box.) Buy your own Tickets.
D: Just show some common sense. Shearer is not working, and Labour is on track for a bigger beating than last time. And NZ cannot afford 3 more years of Keys megalomania, and sell it all attitude. And I notice they are after the councils to start selling their assets like the port and Airport shares to pay for covered stadiums and the rail loop. That tells me they must have people just slavering at the thought of all these shares being gifted to them by a compliant government.
TV3’s Paddy Gower was explicitly clear that the detailed notes he took from a Labour caucus member were well outside the “Cunliffe camp” as he put it.
Despite the constitutional rule changes, the membership do not count. Either the media or the caucus need to call clearly for change of leaderhship. Hasn’t happened yet.
In fact caucus show all the signs of just doing another Goff and simply strapping themselves to ride the bomb straight into the ground. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Haaaa!
Spring is not far away.
robertson..?..really..?..you reckon he is the best hope that labour has got..?
..(as noted above..)..did you miss his craven promise to the elites/current-power-paradigm that ‘electricity’ would be the only reform that a labour govt would do..?
..f.f.s..!..isn’t just that a neon-sign/loudhailer telling you that robertson is part of the problem..?
..and i hafta say..having done commentaries on q-time @ parliament for some years now..
..i have probably seen more of robertson in action than most..
..and in that forum..he has generally not impressed..
..(up against ryall in health he was particularly hapless/ineffectual..)
..and using impressions taken from that same window into parliament..
..the only one from labour that makes national/the right sit up straight and pay attention..
..is cunnliffe..
..they are particularly nervous about his follow-up questions..and his ability to instantly pounce on any contradictions in their answers to his interrogations..
..because ‘interrogations’ are what they are..
..and this is a skill that cunnliffe has..
..and that neither shearer nor robertson have..
(n.b..i have never met cunnliffe..and have been snarky about him in the past @ whoar..and i have not voted for labour since the rightwing revolution..
..so i have no party-faction-agenda/barrow..tho’ i do yearn for a labour that returns to its’ roots..
..and does what it was set up originally to do..eh..?)
..robertson is just a leader of those in labour who have still lost their way…
..and making him shearers’ successor will likely guarantee a defeat for the left in just over one year from now..
..much as continuing to cling to the wreck that is shearer will do…
..a labour party/govt led by the nose by the rightwing faction in labour..(who ‘nudge-nudge’/wink!-wink!’ robertson leads)..
..will be as big a disaster for those suffering the most..
..as was the last clark/labour-led govt..
..that bow/promise to the elites to do nothing to rock their boats from robertson –
– was the magazine loading marks on his thumb..
..(is it too soon..?..)
phillip ure..
+2 three meke.
I’ve never really understood why Helen decided to have a cuppa and a lay down in the third term and do absolutely sfa – when there was a golden opportunity to further roll back a bit more of the damage that the Nats had done during the 90s.
’cause she wanted a 4th, obviously.
Would have been better if she’d gone all out but I don’t think she would have done so – still too tied to the neo-liberal dogma.
Yep – you’re probably correct DtB. I must have been blinded by devotion and admiration of her intellect not to have realised earlier.
That last (3rd) term was a shocker – in terms of laziness, stagnation, complacency and unwillingness to seize the opportunity to reverse the effects of that Ruthenasia era. Seems to me the current Labour scene queens are still in that mode.
It is what happens when you rely on Winston Peters for confidence. You can’t do left wing stuff any more.
Do you reckon MS?
I think Peters would have supported a large nation building infrastructure and public transport building programme. He would have supported enhanced healthcare for the elderly and for children. He certainly would have supported massive additions to trade training and skills for young people. And improvements to state provided low cost pensioner housing – a no brainer for Winston to claim credit for.
Just what I was thinking, David H. As a longtime Labour activist I’ve just about given up !
Hate what Key is doing to our country, but cannot bear the thought of voting Labour to get those old hack neo-libs back into power. What’s the alternative ? Greens perhaps !
Yep, National are determined to turn us back into a rentier society where most of the people are dependent upon the rich for their well being, i.e, if you don’t please a rich person then your life will be a life of poverty. We saw this in the 19th century but the time most applicable is the time of feudalism.
National are busy taking us backwards several centuries.
+1 too.
YES!
So, the journos wrote and published an entire story about one party leader on what an opposing party leader thinks is going to happen to the other?
Because key says so? Just before a by-election?
I mean, come on.
I have to ask Labourites a question.
Are you all still happy with the new leader election rules of Labour?
Not so much for the process of electing a new leader, rather the unintended consequence of the reluctance to dump an incompetent leader (aka Shearer) due to the uncertainty of who will replace him?
Does this turn the Labour caucus into a bunch of cowards?
Do the rules need to be modified so that the party membership and affiliates can initiate a leadership challenge?
Because from how I see it from the outside, Shearer is an incompetent leader who has very little support apart from the ABC crowd in caucus who are just enough in number to block a leadership challenge.
So you have the membership & unions and reasonable chunk of caucus who want a change but it can’t happen because of a sizable minority of has beens holding up the renewal process and no automatic leadership vote until after 2014?
But I thought that all righties all agreed that Shearer would be a wonderful leader. After all he did give a mango skin to some poor kids once and he did think that it was unfair that a guy painting his roof was receiving ACC. I mean even if the guy did not actually exist being willing to bash an imaginary benefit bludger would be the sort of thing the right would really approve of.
Shearer is a wonderful leader of labour :), don’t even think of replacing him
Why is it that righties are suddenly so interested in Labour’s leadership? From the PM down it seems.
because its funny.
I think D. Shearer is the right man for Labour. Keep him, please.
Just give your party back to the workers. All will come right after that.
How do they do that?
Nope, it’s for the members to take their party back off the caucus.
443,000 more people voted for National than Labour at the last election. Who are these people? The rich, some middle classes and aspiring blue collar workers. I wonder how many enrolled non-voters there were at the 2011 election.
~800,000
That’s a lot of people. I wish they would start to feel angry rather than disinterested in what is happening. If they think not voting is a protest then I wish we could send them the message that voting is a more powerful protest.
“I wish they would start to feel angry rather than disinterested in what is happening.”
You make it sound like they woke up one morning a couple of years ago and decided not to care about politics any more. They didn’t.
They were taught, meticulously and repetitively, by several generations of politicians, that no-one in a position of power, whether left or right wing, gives a stuff about them.
And btw they’re not going to wake up tomorrow morning and unlearn it just because Labour’s middle-of-the-road fan club have decided they like John Key better.
+1
+1
We need a party that gives them a reason to vote and we just don’t have one of those.
You make it sound like they woke up one morning a couple of years ago and decided not to care about politics any more. They didnât.
They were taught, meticulously and repetitively, by several generations of politicians, that no-one in a position of power, whether left or right wing, gives a stuff about them.
Hear, hear!
and a clearer demonstration of that indifference/neglect from labour had to be their promise at the last election to bring sole-parents into the families tax-break/subsidy working parents get..
..(and here is the kicker/nose-grind..)..by 2018..
..(i kid you not..this was their election promise to those they have ignored for so long..and who now ignore them..this was the lure to get them back..what were they thinking..?
..and here is the bit to make you sob/despair..shearer/robertson dominated labour have since ditched this policy – as being ‘too radical’..
..’we are still a long way from home will..a long way from home..’.)
..so really..rolling shearer has to be a package-deal..
..make it a twofer…
..bundle up robertson at the same time..
..he also has had long enough to prove he isn’t growing into the job..
..phillip ure..
This.
http://annesummers.com.au/2013/06/bullying-and-outright-treachery-are-the-new-normal-in-australia/
“truth, like decency, is no longer part of our political currency it seems”.-Anne Summers.
(Greens support for the ALP expires in September anyway).
âtruth, like decency, is no longer part of our political currency it seemsâ.-Anne Summers.
… nor, it seems is it a part of the Police agenda, or the judicial process (in relation to our Bain thoughts above)
From the very moment he was appointed I knew that David Shearer lacked the qualities needed by a political leader. David Cunliffe has some of those qualities but if his colleagues don’t like or trust him, how can he be leader? At the moment anyway.
What about David Parker or Andrew Little?
And Shearer seems to be confident about only one thing: that he will lead the party into the 2014 election. Does he know something Patrick Gower doesn’t or is that pure spindoctoring?
BTW, for a fabulous insight into the nature of leadership and the skulduggery of politics I recommend the Danish TV series Borgen, available on DVD. It’s very relevant to Australian and New Zealand politics.
Little maybe, but probably too soon. Parker no. Robertson no.
If you put Little up now, before he is properly blooded, you’ll be wasting what could be an awesome future talent.
On TV 3 tonight, Gower cited Cunliffe, Robertson and Little as the ones to watch. Nothing he said indicated whether he was speculating or repeating what he was told, but it left me thinking that if a leadership challenge really is in the pipeline, Robertson might well try to persuade more than one left wing favourite to put their name forward, with a view to splitting the vote.
The 3 Gower mentioned, had me musing on who the “anonymous” source of the “flat” caucus might be.
I’d have thought Jacinda Ardern would be in the frame as much as Little?
She may be considered a bit young to bear that level of authority. As CV said of Little, you can wreck people’s future careers by overburdening them too soon – some people think that is the case with Shearer, with regard to parliamentary experience.
Hi Maureen, it has nothing to do with liking and trust. It has everything to do with job security. If you look at who supported Shearer they are all people who had never won a seat properly. They had been given list positions or been given easy seats like mount Albert. Cunliffe has the mana of taking a seat from the Natz.
Cunliffe is respected and a real Trust comes put of that. Parker is not a winner ever. Little has not won a seat. They have not earned a possie on the stage.
test
Fracking ? See http://www.thedailyshow.com for extended interview with documentary maker Josh Fox on his “Gasland Part Two” for HBO. See people being able to ignite the water coming from their wells in USA heartland …
the contamination of the aquifiers in HB is a very real concern from this process.
Here.
So, today’s the day (tonight’s the night) when Christchurch City Council learn whether IANZ remove their permitting accreditation.
And the RB fear that the raising of interest rates will damage the ‘economic recovery’; what fragile coffers they must see.
Please watch this and be energised.
Thousands gathered to support Wendy Davis in Austin on Thursday night’s filibuster — this marvelous coverage warmed my heart, reminding me of how we used to be willing to do battle here .. the Repubs are such bullies; their skulduggery has to be seen to be believed, even to changing the electronic clock … wonderful reporting by the great Rachel Maddow … prepare to be ready to cheer for these brave and determined ones…. democracy alive in Texas …
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/#52324859
But Rick Perry will be back again in a few weeks to try again … watch the interview that follows on the above report and believe the possibility of sea-change in Texas.
Democracy, sea-change, nah, wishful thinking.
Because of yesterday’s day of jubilee, the other, less evolved primates in the Texas legislature are now free to redistrict an end to Davis’s meddlesome political career.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/All_Things_Are_Connected
Thx for link Joe90 — they will get this strong woman to run for governor on the back of all this .. did you read the comments section ? Let’s see .. the people are awake and sea change can follow … ripples are the promises the waves make to the flood, and all that ! Wishful thinking ? nah.
Would there actually be any point changing leadership now?
We’re still a far way out, but I think you’d end up like Labour in aussie at the moment. Might as well ride it out with Shearer, wreak him, change leaders?
Yes, there has to be a point to it. Labour will lose under Shearer, almost no doubt about it. He can’t cut it. Cunliffe would be fresh, extremely capable and a brilliant and articulate communicator, likely the best in the House. The diff ‘twixt here and Oz ? We would not be re-selecting a previously-used leader. I dread the future for us all if Gnats get a third term; I seriously doubt we could ever recover from their massive harms.
I have to agree with you yeshe – if Labour do not win the next election, I fear it’ll be one seriously munted and irrelevant political party.
Bugger the Labour Party… there will be significantly more munted and irrelevant people in NZ if we have another 3 years of Pinokeyo, the fat controller et al.
Don’t worry yeshe, infused is getting a bit worried Cunliffe might become leader and biff it to his/her beloved NActs.
Would Cunliffe improve Labour’s prospects next year? Possibly. But the heart of the problem is that the Labour Party as a caucus and as an organisation, remains too far away from understanding what NZ needs. Which IMO I will put this way: 12 strong years which will rework the entire economy and set NZ right on track for thriving through peak oil and climate change.
Ride it out….like we did under Goff
Ride it out and let Nats in for another Term.
Ride it out and see our supporters go to e Greens and Mana and even NZ First.
Ride it out is not an option
Ride it out is not an option
Ride it out is not an option
Yeah, let us repeat the same mistakes.
Go Infusion. You are INSPIRED
Something good to report today.
Old films in NZ to be archived and cared for.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8851761/Lab-deal-gives-rare-Kiwi-films-new-life
Am I to understand from that link that they took thousands of reels of acetate and nitrate old films on a plane?
One reel in a car (or your house) would be highly dangerous.
Holy crap…you might as well carry 100kg of incendiaries onboard.
Coleman shines a lamp on the poor record of safety in the NZDF and launches a “wide-ranging enquiry”.
Risk to the financial system, general price stability, due to the housing market may be greater than in the lead-up to the GFC
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10893435
“significant financial and economic damage could result”.
Auckland housing sprawls across prime, productive agricultural land http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10893444. sigh.
Had to happen.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/wikileaks-mole/
all for 5 Grand
The Nats Auckland Transport announcement;
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10893553
-CRL
-AMETI (east-west link)
-another harbour crossing- twin tunnels; 2025-2030
Despite pressure coming on from the council, and the Greens, total rail trips have to increase from 11M currently, to 20M per annum to have CRL brought forward from 2020 considered.
Not surprised the CRL announcement from National turns out to be a trojan horse.
Did anyone really expect much more?
Along with the proposed double harbour tunnel. Key said that the Christchurch spend was all signed and sealed – unbreakable, but note nothing has been written in concrete about the CRL or the tunnel.
Don’t know about a horse. I hoped santa would bring us a bridge – isn’t a tunnel in the shaky isles a bit of a pipedream?
Off topic I guess, but well done to steven adams for getting pick by the thunder at no12 in the draft.
PiĂąera, an intergenerational clan of thugs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/27/chilean-protesters-street-battles-police
FYI
“An amateur litigant who has a court case against MP John Banks under way and plans one against MP Peter Dunne is now advancing the process against Prime Minister John Key.”
(Only found about this today).
It’s potentially quite a big deal.
I mean – whoever expected the DEFENDANT John Banks to end up in the dock, at the Auckland District Court?
A sitting MP, being held accountable in a Court of LAW, to the RULE OF LAW?
Far out!
Whoever may be next………………?
GREAT work Private Prosecutor Graham McCready!
______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8845031/Litigant-launches-more-cases
” Litigant launches more cases
MICHAEL FIELD
Last updated 17:08 26/06/2013
An amateur litigant who has a court case against MP John Banks under way and plans one against MP Peter Dunne is now advancing the process against Prime Minister John Key.
Graham McCready, a retired accountant, of Wellington, has filed informations with the Wellington District Court against Key alleging that he broke the Crimes Act by using or authorising illegal surveillance on internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.
He has submitted the same informations against Government Communications Security Bureau head Ian Fletcher.
Deputy registrar Kevin Conroy has acknowledged the informations.
“I now have to consider the matter of the issue of summonses under the provisions of the Summary Procedures Act 1957,” he said.
He said he must be satisfied that the informations and summons disclosed an offence and there was sufficient information to fairly inform the defendants.
McCready is asked to provide a full written summary of the facts.
His case involves a section of the Crimes Act that prohibits the use of interception devices and says “everyone is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years who intentionally intercepts any private communication by means of an interception device”.
Key’s office had no comment.
McCready has previously taken private prosecutions against MPs Trevor Mallard and Banks. The prosecution against Mallard alleged assault, but the Labour MP later pleaded guilty to fighting in a public place in 2007.
In May, Banks pleaded not guilty to a charge alleging he filed a false electoral return in the Auckland mayoralty race three years ago. ”
______________________________________________________________________________
More information (copies of the actual ‘informations’) will be available soon – so you can read them for yourselves.
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
Heavens to Murgatroyd!
Graham McCready: Convicted tax fraudster and blackmailer
Yes. Invaluable qualifications for spotting others who also have corrupted characters.
And as Judge Mills pointed out in the Wellington District Court at law, allegations stand or fall on their own merit, not on the character of the person making the allegations. An upstanding person may totally believe a wrong allegation Burglars don’t not necessarily commit treason.
Why is the system leaving it to a private individual to get John Banks into the dock?
This must leave you with a problem WRT John Key. Does he have an upstanding character with dreadful actions or vice versa.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! He’s living in Limbo!”
Another depraved few minutes on the Panel preshow.
Radio NZ National, Friday 28 June 2013
Jim Mora, Duncan Webb, Sally Wenley
If Red China during the very worst excesses of its crackdowns against “rightists”, “revisionists” and “capitalist running dogs” had had talk radio, this is what it would have sounded likeâŚ.
JIM MORA: It’s a quarter to four, and it’s time for Susan Baldacci and what the wooooooooorld’s talking about!
SUSAN BALDACCI: Well today the world is talking about Las Vegas, Nevada, which is getting ready for the hottest temperature ever recorded in the world.
MORA: What, on Planet Earth?
SUSAN BALDACCI: They are expecting a temperature of—
MORA: The hottest temperature on Planet Earth?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Yep. It’s 142 Fahrenheit, or 56.7 celsius.
MORA: We were talking about the Indian floods but this is a real crisis too isn’t it.
SUSAN BALDACCI: It certainly is. The big worry would be if the power went out!
MORA:Where was the previous highest temperature?
SUSAN BALDACCI: In Australia, I think.
MORA: Was it in Australia?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Y-y-y-y-yes.
MORA: I’ve been in 42 degrees once. But fifty-SIX degrees. That’s amazing!
SALLY WENLEY: Oh yes. Amazing!
âŚ.[Long, vacuous pause]âŚ.
MORA: What’s Mr Snowden been up to?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Arrrrrggghhhh. He’s not going anywhere!
MORA Ha ha ha!
SUSAN BALDACCI: He’s still in that transit lounge in Russia!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! He’s living in Limbo!
SALLY WENLEY: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
SUSAN BALDACCI: It looks like he could be going to Ecuador.
MORA: Hmmmmm. Ecuador is being extremely aggressive, isn’t it!
SUSAN BALDACCI: Yes, they are threatening to CANCEL the trade agreement they have with the United States!
MORA: Why?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Well, they are going to preemptively reject millions in trade benefits that it could lose by taking in this guy from his limbo in the Moscow airport. They say they are not going to be “blackmailed” by the United States. They want to show their “independence”.
MORA: Huh!
SALLY WENLEY: Huh!
SUSAN BALDACCI: But President Obama has said they are not going to beg anyone to help them get this guy.
MORA: Yeah, exactly.
SALLY WENLEY: Exactly.
MORA: And they said something about how they are offering to give the United States $23 million a year for “human rights training”.
SUSAN BALDACCI: Yep, a government spokesman said :”Ecuador will not accept pressures or threats from anyone, and it does not traffic in its values or allow them to be subjugated to mercantile interests.”
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! Good Lord! Ha ha ha!
SALLY WENLEY: Ha ha ha ha ha!
…et cetera, et cetera, ad absurdum, ad nauseamâŚ
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 24: John Key
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—New Zealand prime minister John Key, pretending to be “disappointed” that parliamentary staff passed on information about a journalist’s movements as part of an inquiry into the leak of sensitive information.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8853155/Journalists-movements-tracked-by-leak-inquiry
See alsoâŚ.
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: âBruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.â
No. 21 Tim Groser: âI think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.â
No. 20 John Key: âBut if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.â
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: âIt is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DONâT!â
No. 18 Ant Strachan: âThe All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!â
No. 17 Stephen Franks: âPeter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.â
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: âTony AbbottâŚhasnât made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.â
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: âI did not lie⌠Colin Powell did not lie.â
No. 14 Colin Powell: âa post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizationsâŚconnections are now emergingâŚâ
No.13 Barack Obama: âSimply put, these strikes have saved lives.â
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: âProtecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UKâs top priorities.â
No. 11 Brendan OâConnor: âAustraliaâs approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.â
No. 10 Boris Johnson: âLondoners have⌠the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.â
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: âNews you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!â
No. 8 Simon Bridges: âI donât mean to duck the questionâŚ.â
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: âQuite frankly, theyâve been VERY tough.â
â¨http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
â¨No. 6 NZ Herald PR dept: âCongratulationsâyouâre reading New Zealandâs best newspaper.ââ¨
â¨No. 5 Rawdon Christie: ââŚa FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.ââ¨http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594â¨
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: âThe X-Factor. Nah, nah, thereâs some GREAT talent there!ââ¨
No. 3 John Key: âYeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.â
â¨No. 2 Colin Craig: âOh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.â
â¨No. 1 Barack Obama: âMargaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.â
Humbug Cornerâ¨
No. 5: JOHN KEY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—John Key, Radio NZ National Checkpoint, 5:20p.m., Friday 28 June 2013. Host Mary Wilson let him get away with that unchallenged as usual.
Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity ProjectÂŽ, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More appalling humbugâŚ.
No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s⌠integrity beyond reproachâŚsuch great character⌔
â¨No. 3 Dean Lonergan: âYâ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.ââ¨
No. 2 Peter Dunne: âWhat a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbugâŚââ¨
â¨No.1 Dominic Bowden: âItâs okay to be speechless.â
The Black Hole, of Kolkata
http://www.ibtimes.com/india-set-surpass-china-worlds-largest-coal-importer-use-power-plants-1327117 :India to surpass China importing coal to meet energy shortages.
IMF (Lagarde) on “Green Economies that respond to Climate Change will create jobs”
http://www.ibtimes.com/imf-director-says-green-economies-respond-climate-change-will-create-jobs-1326579
France officially in recession and heading towards 11% jobless rate
http://www.ibtimes.com/france-officially-recession-headed-jobless-rate-over-11-1324355
The sound of the other shoe dropping . . .
How much are the NSA and the CIA front running markets?
http://m.nakedcapitalism.com/nakedcapitalism/#!/entry/how-much-are-the-nsa-and-cia-front-running-markets,51cd441687443d6c8e580489/1
Given the embargo on promoting any candidate on election day, please do NOT make any comments relating to the by election anywhere on The Standard from midnight until after 7pm on Saturday. ThanksâŚ