Yes I like Iain, he is an accessible Labour electorate MP (one of the few “provincial” Labour ones around at the moment), and he has been doing a great job of building the Palmerston North electorate back up as a well organised Labour stronghold.
“National’s strategy could disrupt Labour’s efforts to maximise the party vote, given that the survival of those MPs could hinge on them campaigning for the electorate vote instead to keep their political careers afloat. ”
Um, isn’t the risk that National’s strategy could disrupt their own efforts to maximise their own party vote? See what happens when journalists recycle press releases; their critical faculties wither and die. They become husks of their former selves, mere jonolists.
Vance: “Key will use his speech tomorrow to make the first of a series of policy announcements between now and the election campaign proper getting under way, when National is expected to start rolling out policy at the rate of one a day. ”
One a day? Dump at that rate and they will all end up in the dump – unread!
They’ll just be bullet pointed sheets of A4 that even the dumbest idiots will be able to read. It’s not as if they’ll have facts or logic to back them up – just ideology.
Justice Secretary Andrew Bridgman – ‘‘People see the broader vision and the strategy … but they don’t see how the plan connects them in their day to day activity. That’s why they don’t see the ministry succeeding and they don’t feel valued how they want to be valued.’’
How about – “people don’t feel valued because all they see is spin……..they DON’T see any broader vision nor any strategy…….” ?
I can confirm that working conditions at the Ministry are terrible. Personally, I can’t see why anyone would work there given the poor pay and patronizing management style.
The PSA reps really earn their money, it would be much worse without their heroic efforts.
Dunedin Green Party Campaign Launch today 3pm at the railway station. Candidates; Metiria Turei (Dn Nth), Shane Gallagher (Dn Sth) & Chris Ford (List) will be speaking, plus musicians, photobooth, and afternoon tea.
Even if you haven’t RSVPd, it’s a fairly big space so there should be room for anyone who happens to be in town this avo (and isn’t just coming along to disrupt the event).
Phillip, you’re slipping, there’s a newspaper poll out that favors dope decriminalization, i would have thought you would have been onto it first thing…
..but believe it or not..i consider our govt aiding in the butchering of entirely innocent of anything men/women/children at the behest of the fucken americans..
..to be a more important issue than dope-reform..
..and it actually horrifies me that i see the prospect of a lab/green govt continuing to have a hand in those killings/murders..
..to my mind..that would be..by any definition..’evil’..
..(and would..you’d think..?..
..have the likes of keith locke spinning in his retirement..)
I don’t think it would be too difficult to have good relations with USA but at the same time be more independent and preserving our freedom and sovereignty at the same time. Like so many countries are able to do at present. Whole scale snooping as revealed by Edward Snowden and Julian Assange should definitely be stopped while legitimate warranted security oversight could be allowed as long as they are with legally approved by legislation and judiciary.
Your Labour/green bashing is as laughable and boringly predictable as those on the right. Congratulation if you wanted to be seen as the whaleoil of the lunatic left – You won.
Write to the party leaders, ask their stances and report back here.
More of the same vitriol and invective will just confirm the suspected.
You should have highlighted this part of the quote too…
“though if I had to, I’d be quite capable of getting my hands bloody, if it were ultimately either me or them, I’d eat fluffy wuffy kittens and puppy tail stew”
“i don’t need to write to them to know the answers”
That’s why I called bs smear artist, thanks for backing me up.
So … you have questions that “you feel need addressing” – so much so you post them in two separate Open Mikes – but you also “don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions”?
It looks like you just want to be constantly associating Labour and the Greens with drone strikes, which pretty much fills the criteria for a smear campaign.
Sorry Phillip, but if you cannot discern the obvious relevance to your statement I quoted, maybe there are more important questions like why do you feel so qualified to cast judgement on such complex issues?
I am not going to enter a prolonged debate on this so don’t expect a reply to your reply, but if you really need the thing laid out for you, here it is.
If no-one inside or outside of Government made the effort to change policy, it is fair to assume that policy would not change.
to your refusal to ask those who would be making the policies;
If when given the means and opportunities to ask those who are in a position to change their policies, you refuse to accept, how do you expect them to be aware that you feel the policy is in need of change?
@phillip Key’s whole life is a dream. Something to do with being relaxed all the time, he doesn’t have anything to dream about when he actually goes to sleep.
The words signifying nothing came to mind. I find on google it’s from Macbeth and the quotes from it are all so descriptive and apt for either Key and/or the NACTS!
Shakespeare was brilliant, very knowing and had writing skills and vocabulary par excellence! http://www.william-shakespeare.info/quotes-quotations-play-macbeth.htm
Here are some. The first applies if his support did aid drone strikes. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” Macbeth Quote (Act II, Sc. II).
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself, and falls on the other.” – ( Quote Act I, Scene VII).
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Macbeth Quote (Act I, Scene V).
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. – ( Quote Act I, Scene I).
“I bear a charmed life”. Macbeth Quote (Act V, Sc. VIII).
and
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Macbeth Quote (Act V, Scene V).
@phillip
You and I can fight and chew gum at the same time better than those others and while balancing our beers on our heads.
To the bridge Horatius — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatius_Cocles! There is a picture here of a Horatius that I don’t match up to, so hope you do.
Savage words traded P.Ure and T.Allen…….well……a bit o’ The Bard kindly tossed in by ‘Warbler……happy ending.
We are united. Dedicated to throwing off the cloak of falseness and foulness which pervades governance. In ShonKey Python land.
Our Sydney-based spin doctor William Shakespeare exposes it seminally…….“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Macbeth Quote (Act I, Scene V).
Well done ‘Warbler getting all that together. Entertaining on top of soooo true !
@North
You have got me thinking – ‘our Sydney based’ – would Fred Dagg still take an interest in our little farm? We must seem pretty funny from over in OZ. Should we send him a new black singlet, for nostalgic wearing and tell him we love him and would like to hear from him. See what he says? Anyone know his feelings on this?
Fred Dagg could do a passable lampooning of ShonKey Python actually. Especially the ‘global statesman’ persona the big wank tries to affect after a week affixed kissing gourami-like to Obama’s arse. Heard him simpering on in the TVOne News about the “inner sanctum” of the “kitchen cabinet”……..which is apparently where the decision re The Colon will be made. What a pretensious ponce !
Closet tokers and dopers all, and, if Jackie Blue the ex-National MP is to be considered ”run of the mill” there’s quite a bit of family ”biffo” occurring in the feral upper-class of the National Parties ranks…
i must admit Phillip to not having given the issue much thought at all recently, along with alcohol, dope is off the menu here at the Mansion,
Obviously i favor a simple blanket decriminalization of Marijuana be that growing for personal use or possession for personal use,
The codicil to that would have to be some pretty harsh penalties imposed upon anyone who for whatever reason allowed/caused those under 18 to get their hands on the ‘stash’,
My view is the responsibility for youngsters not getting stoned befor a legal age would have to rest upon the adult who legally possessed the supply, even to the point where it could be shown that the kids had sussed the stash and half inched all or part of it,
As a non-smoker who possesses quite a body of knowledge surrounding plant growth and also possesses a pile of 600’s along with an array of other stuff that some would describe as a comprehensive kit i am supremely relaxed as to the time-frame a Law change could be conceivably seen in this country…
Lolz Phillip, i reckon you are my friend about half a decade too late, if you search the records back about there you will find tales of a million dollar tinny house being busted in Porirua,
Despite malicious rumors spread by my many enemies i (laughingly) deny any involvement what-so-ever in having ever been any part of the supply chain all or in part for this particular enterprise,
My innocence shines not quite as brightly as the winter sun does upon this very fine Winter’s day but shine it does,
Your offer Phillip of 50/50 as part of such a business relationship is also ludicrous, given Legislation that allowed such legal production i would have to be entirely dull not to have sufficient skills to be able to both grow and retail the product,
My best offer in a situation where production was legalized would have to be a discount rate of minus fifty dollars on the accepted current price of a bulk buy in terms of O’s…
Your pricked ego Phillip simply results in you posting of the dull as attempted wit, your marketing skills are questionable to say the least,
IF you have a million viewers over there at your ‘attention whore’ web-page without the income to justify the effort i would suggest said marketing skills are zero,
Of course as in the dope world ‘quality’ of writing in the case of your website would tend to be the benchmark of the ability to produce revenue from ones efforts but even the Herald manages to generate some revenue from its efforts so i would doubt your possession of satisfactory skills in either area,
Given such a failure on your part i hardly need concern myself with your ego-centric notions of being some form of marketing guru and should i wish to indulge myself in the pursuit we have previously been discussing i can assure you that one text invitation to coffee to one individual from among a number of individuals on my phone list,(which for the life of me doesn’t appear to exist in this particular house-hold) would remove from my presence within the hour any amount i would care to produce…
Lolz CV, spose i could have just printed a terse bullshit instead, however i do like to drag those i am in conversation with into the byzantine alleyways of my mind in the hope that they too might catch a dose of what ails me,
We all would then be said to be conversing from the benefit of a level playing field…
i fail to ascertain a mood swing of any sort evident in my writing this day Phillip, perhaps the shit you have been spewing forth has somewhat clouded the crystal ball you seem to be using to divine my mood,
Well no must be the answer to your second question, i was always at the time pretty drunk,
You could tho test your theory of my ugliness by buying me a 40oz Black Label and then hanging about whilst i imbibed of the whole container…
BOYCOTT it, the NZHerald that is, if you have a subscription, cancel it, convince your friends and relatives to either cancel their subscriptions or not to buy the vicious piece of rubbish from the gas station or wherever their habit has them doing so,
Complaining to the press council or sending emails to the Herald itself is a pointless exercise, as one commenter showed us yesterday when the contents of an email were repeated here and ‘the Editor’, obviously taking the piss, spat back at the complaint referring to an ”un-sourced” code of journalistic ethics,
My opinion says that the whole Liu/Labour non-donations fiasco was deliberate, people who with deliberation spread such lies as propaganda are never going to apologize or retract their lies and we all are simply pissing into the wind if we have any expectation that they will,
PUNISH them, hit the NZHerald where it will hurt, Boycott the utter garbage gutter rag that it is and convince everyone you know to do the same,
The up-coming Labour Party Conference should spread that message throughout the membership, the time for complaining is over, give the NZHerald a message it cannot fail to understand, Hit them in the pocket, do not buy the product….
Mr Liu may feel like he’s lost quite a bit of face due to the way labour has used him for political point scoring.
So hardly surprising,he’s after a bit of utu.
Also, if the herald is going behind a pay well, the majority of its subscribers will be of a blue shade so it would make sense to target their stories at the people who buy/subscribe to their publication.
Stupidly, you seem to hold to a belief that the Herald possesses some form of comprehensive statement from Liu that details 100,s of thousands of dollars of donations to Labour,
Your refusal to entertain the notion that the Herald may have been the one to ”Inflate” a small donation,(to a rowing club), into that claim of 100’s of 1000’s is charming yet childishly lacking in intelligence,
The latest sum arrived at by the Herald is now $38,000, the claim is that this is a revised figure from further information given by Liu to the Herald,
i have no belief that Liu has given the Herald any ”further” information as i have little belief that the Herald is in possession of a comprehensive statement from Liu which details such supposed gifts,
My belief until such time as the Herald provides ”Proof”, as in the printing of these supposed statements from Liu to the Herald, is that a Journalist, or, Journalists have simply concocted this whole sordid mess of lies with deliberation….
It keeps on coming … they seem to have a direct line from Liu or someone who speaks English or someone who speaks for him … how else could they possibly know he has hired Paul Davison QC to lead “a team of advisers” to ward off any fight with Labour ? This does threaten death by a thousand cuts … and I hope Blip is reading .. just heard Key on The Nation say all he said in US was that there was a donation of $38,000! oh dear .. ruined my morning and I had to turn him off.
Key is a craven coward! Happy to dish as much dirt as he can but scuttles away like a cockroach to hide under the nearest log when he is caught out in his lies and smears against people who he deems to be his enemy, then creeps out with a different persona which he uses until the crap that he created dies down. I don’t remember him quoting a figure of $38,000.00. That figure has only just been come to by the mathematical geniuses at nz herald, from alleged information quoting revised figures. He mentioned $15,000.00 for a book that now never gets mentioned. He also said he knew there was a lot more to come, smirk, smirk. Now he says he doesn’t know any details of Liu’s alleged donations and never has. Mr Liu must realise that all this distraction has been engineered by key and his sycophantic invertebrates to discredit Cunliffe as this is the ONLY way he has any chance of winning the next election. Dirty tricks is all he knows.
Mr Liu may feel like he’s lost quite a bit of face due to the way labour has used him for political point scoring.
Labour never used him for political point scoring – they just pointed out that National were taking bribes and he was one of the people who seemingly tried to bribe National.
Also, if the herald is going behind a pay well, the majority of its subscribers will be of a blue shade so it would make sense to target their stories at the people who buy/subscribe to their publication.
Yep, it’s going to turn into an echo chamber on a par with WhaleOil. No journalistic integrity and stories made up out of whole cloth.
Because in the 10 years in which New Zealand has been lobbying for this position, the way the country sees itself has changed radically. We were once treated with caution by the US; now we enjoy favoured status. We were champions of neutrality and balance; we’re now reversing that once-cherished aloofness.
The question is, which New Zealand will be turning up in New York should our [security council] bid be successful? Not just New Zealanders, but citizens of other countries too, have a right to know.
The first comment on the article is right on the button too, imo.
I’ve noticed how the NActs have lately taken any opportunity to mention Labour began this process. It’s like they’re not keen to take credit for the cost on an allmighty failure themselves.
As I wrote to Dita, she is lucky to be able to tell what John Key thinks NZ’s Foreign Policy is. His opinion keeps changing according to who his audience is. Shifty?
Interesting call from Hilary Clinton today giving Australia a slap for expecting the US to defend it but at the same time giving China considerable preferences. Any simularities to NZ??!! Key has the same feet on separating icebergs. What happens on D-Day?!
That first comment was spot on. I’m kinda hoping that a lot of people are waking up to the fact that we’re losing our way just so that Key and, by association, National can kiss US president arse.
FYI
8:15 Kent Greenfield RNZ NAT
Kent Greenfield is Professor of Law and Law Fund Research Scholar at Boston College Law School. He is the author of the 2011 book, The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits (Biteback Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-84954-307-1).
Worth a listen.
Sorry folks – audio not yet up at the time of this comment
Blubber boy has apparently asked for time out while he grows a leg to stand on,(there is also no truth to the rumor that It has been forced to find a new kindergarten to attend having been excluded from attending because of a number of violent incidents)…
Which contains the following: “Labour Party general secretary Tim Barnett confirmed that a lawyer for the party had contacted Liu’s legal counsel but was yet to receive a substantive reply.
“The Labour Party has no dispute with Mr Liu because we have seen no evidence that he has published false information about us.””
And this is the output of the editor of investigative reporting?
I don’t really think the Liu is the problem. He doesn’t have his own publishing company – that I know of.
The error is entirely the result of the Herald journalists and editors that wrote and allowed such unsubstantiated information to be published – time and again – without providing the information necessary to Labour to investigate those claims.
I was interested to see that article as what it indicates IMO is that possibly legal action is being contemplated by Labour – by the party management, keeping Cunliffe out of it.
However, I agree that the Herald (rather than Jared Savage per se) just aren’t quitting, as evidenced by their editorial yesterday (now with over 300 comments, most scathing of the Herald).
In the Editorial, reference is made to further clarification this weekend on Lui’s statement (cannot remember the exact wording) which appeared to signal that The Herald has not given up.
This is possibly reinforced by a tweet from Tim Murphy about 6pm last night
“Donghua Liu – seems like some premature claims of the story ‘unravelling’ have been going on …”
But isn’t the unravelling about what had already been printed last week? The damage to the Labour Party was done with unsubstantiated allegations centred around 2007. The complaint is not with Mr Liu is it? It is with whoever planted the story with the Herald and the Herald for printing it.
Correct. Deflections on to Liu are completely misguided. He’s merely another private citizen. It’s the media institution of the NZ Herald which needs to be held to account.
I agree with you, that the real complaint should be with whoever planted the story etc, rather than Liu per se.
However, imo it could be well impossible (and possibly very disasterous) at this point to try to take a complaint of any sort, including legal action, against the Herald, or the National Party.
Liu could well be the weak link – in light of the statements he is purported to have made (although we have yet to see the hard copy) that he has donated equally to Labour and National – and that he is not liking being a political pawn in the battle between the two (cannot remember the exact words).
Pure speculation on my part, but putting pressure on Liu could lead to disclosures as to what (and who) influenced him to make his original early May statement, how this statement apparently found its way to Key shortly thereafter, and finally to the Herald some weeks later. Any such disclosures could then allow action to be taken against these other parties.
Of course they haven’t given up. They’ve lost a lot of cred and they need to get something on Labour now or they are toast.
But anything they publish from now on needs to have iron-clad proof or they will be laughed off the newstands.
This could go one of two ways – either the HOS has something tomorrow (that’s where they dump all the legally dodgy stuff) or they will actually attempt to verify whatever rubbish they are being fed and will attack again when they are ready.
It’s beginning to get irritating, can’t even read the weekend ‘paper in peace now. The Herald reporters are still persisting with the sly insinuations about David Cunliffe
Savage added this bit….
“The Herald last week revealed Mr Cunliffe wrote a letter for Liu’s residency application, despite previous denials.”
(did he even deny that… don’t recall him being asked that exact question)
Armstrong just had to add these sly digs when talking about Parker…
“David Parker’s authority and influence as Labour’s deputy leader and finance spokesman has been on the rise as much as David Cunliffe’s has been on the wane.”
And…
“He will be able to blame a combination of factors for that, ranging from the current pick-up in economic growth being of huge electoral benefit to National to Cunliffe’s string of mistakes.”
Neither story was even about David Cunliffe and they still put the boot in. WTF is wrong with these people?
Labour policy pushes back against employers importing cheap labour to undercut Kiwis
Bloody good move, Red Team.
“To address that Labour will require employers bringing in overseas workers to pay a living wage (after accommodation deductions) where the job offer forms part of the reason the application is accepted. This does not apply for the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) or Pacific quota migrants.
“We will also ensure RSE workers are paid at the rate of at least the minimum wage plus $1.25 an hour, with accommodation provided in addition to wages. Employers in industries with skills shortages and low pay will be required to be involved in implementing training plans before they are given the right to bring in workers from overseas.
I was doing seasonal work around 1999-2000 and was pretty shocked how much rent was being charged by orchard owners to workers coming in from other districts – it had gone from free rent years earlier, to charging fairly standard amount (from memory, around $80 per room at that time) however this was for a shared room with at least one other person this seemed like a real rort being conducted by orchard owners. it severely undercut the affordability of doing the job and quality of life while doing it – which for shed-work was at the very minimum wage. It was with a great deal of frustration that I heard about the schemes introduced a few years later (or perhaps it was around that same time) of importing cheap labour. Glad to hear that Labour are addressing an erroneous and damaging approach that I suspect they introduced. As the press release conveys importing cheap labour obviated the need to address the wage levels and rorts being conducted by the owners of orchards and fairly well pushed job opportunities away from New Zealanders.
Glad to hear that Labour are addressing an erroneous and damaging approach that I suspect they introduced.
They did introduce them and it is good to see them now realising that they were badly implemented and need fixing. This is possibly the first thing that they’ve actually got right so far.
Yes and there will be tens of thousands just like the lady non voter interviewed that are going to vote this time because she wants a new PM/Government.
Key being interviewed by Gower ended on John Key saying 2015 is about changing the New Zealand flag. It wouldn’t surprise if he decides on a new star spangled banner design. How can people take this guy serious when the changing of the flag is important to him. If he was a real leader he would first drop the British monarchy and call for our independence and change the flag as part of the deal..
Only need 75,000 of those missing voters to turn up and vote LAB/GR/IMP, while 75,000 NAT voters decide to stay home. That would be a decisive win for the Left.
The vindictive Principal of St John’s College? Can you punish a lad for winning the right to his hair style?
“But the school put its foot down and told Lucan he wouldn’t be attending the school ball, and when he showed up with his boots for first XV rugby practice earlier this week, he was told he couldn’t train. ” http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/10209394/Lucans-hair-battle-hits-ball-plans
It is obvious that the Ministry of Education must step in to this affray, first drawing up a specific code surrounding hair that all schools must adhere to,(exclusion from any school activity being outlawed),and second, having provision to remove Principals for breaching any kids basic human rights,
Disgust is the best descriptive i can muster here without leaving a trail of abuse where the Principal in question has in effect shown His or Her contempt for the Court by devising what can only be seen as further punishments for the kid in question for the parents decision to dare to question the power this particular Principal wields in His/Her particular little Potentate,
There is NO evidence that the length or style of a students hair has any negative effect on their ability or their class’s ability to learn…
I heard that there are class photos from the school from the 1970’s – with boys who have even longer hair. Basically, the school administration needs to get on with doing its job of providing education, not punishment.
My guess is that the new Principal wanted to set a standard of no nonsense boss-ship and boxed himself into a corner and is now trying to regain the lost face. And probably support the teacher who sent the lad to the Principal in the first place.
This is exactly what I thought – especially given the school earlier trying to claim that his long hair was a cause of “disruption”. Nope, the school being inflexible wankers about a trivial rule is what’s causing the disruption.
Wonder how much it cost the school to lawyer-up to defend its master-of-the-universe bullshit ? Who’s the shitty little punk here ?
I’ll put my money on it being the solipsistic “School (me) WILL be obeyed !” principal. Not the kid. The more I see the more I applaud him and his family. Piss off immature and spiteful principal man/boy. And the self important social climbing wannabes on your board.
“No you can’t go to the ball…….no you’re not welcome at training……so there !”
Soooo Ugly-Step-Sister ! Reminds me of the idiot big-fish-little-pond bully, the headmaster at my own school ……..50 years ago.
There’s been a bit of this lately. The git state school principal in Whangarei who thought it unremarkable to stigmatise pupils whose parents hadn’t met school charges by excluding them from their classes. “Sit in the hall like on detention boys…..this is for your own good….”
It’s high school… such a meaningless thing to get up in arms about but probably seems really important when you are there and trying to assert your individuality within those constraints like uniforms and all that, it becomes such a silly concern when you leave.
Better parents would have advised the kid to balance a meaningless assertion of individuality with the reality that it would disrupt a huge part of his school year.
Also could have been better handled by the school, ball and 1st XIV should have been used off the bat instead of suspension (as the judge suggested).
And the hypocritical dick who used to have long hair at the same school, but who is now on the Board of Trustees and who chaired the disciplinary committee, he definitely shouldn’t be there. Lameass.
Hooton on The Nation could be edited and played as a political advert for National. Hooton watch the replay and read the minds of what the rest of the panel are thinking in your final lines of spin.
Backing up Joyce’s snake oil about many of the non voters in National seats last time were actually National voters is total crap. If you were a left voter in one of these safe seats your hardly inspired to turn up to vote as ya not going to roll the electorate candidate are you? Labour done themselves no favours by not running a ‘strongly focused party vote strategy.’ Don’t worry our mate McCarten will see to the party vote messaging this time. Now go down a triple shot java to wake your delusional head up on how to come across credible.
Yep. The labour get out the vote effort tends to happen in strong labour seats or marginal seats. For instance in Tamaki there is a rich vein of labour support in Glen Innes but the local party struggles to get them out. Those people must be really put off voting by the apparent overwhelming sign of National’s strength in the area and I am not surprised that they did not vote last time.
Yeah, Glen Innes / Point England / Panmure seem to comprise a little blob of Red in a vast sea of East Auckland Blue. Also perhaps (to a somewhat lesser extent) nearby Edgewater in the far west of Williamson’s Pakuranga seat – orange in 2005, light blue in 08 and 11, but that’s in a deeply dark blue seat.
I’ve noticed in my research a few Labour enclaves (surrounded by suburbs as blue as a new tattoo) where turnout seems to have declined markedly. Among the deeply Tory northern suburbs of Whangarei, for instance, is a little oasis of Red – the (presumably state house and strongly maori) little suburb of Otangarei (almost cut off from its inherently Tory neighbours by a bend in the river that surrounds the suburb on three sides). In 2005 Labour won 150 votes out of a total of 213. In 2011 it received 60 out of 114. The Nat vote, meanwhile, barely changed – a grand total of 11 votes in 2005 and 10 votes 2011.
A pack of jackals at a National Party conference two facedly smiling everywhere working for squeezing themselves the better part of the wealth of New Zealand from the pockets of the working class…
Full of shadowy, shady representatives of the cabinet club there to lean on their puppets in power. Making sure their ‘so called donations’ are repaid ten fold with lucrative political favours.
Nationals 2014 election campaign slogan should be;
Hang about – does that ‘better New Zealand’ refer to one of improving conditions or rather is it poor English for referring to a New Zealand that is good for people who bet – speculators?
Considering National’s political approach that would have to be option b – a New Zealand that advantages speculators.
That might be o.k for those who already have capital (hence the smiles – high on making money on money) – but it is disastrous for the functioning of a healthy society or of any hope of social mobility -i.e. getting out of ruts. The rich get richer the poor get poorer and the middle go backwards under National. Vote left to stop this rort.
FizzyAnus you really should have a day off from The Standard and apply yourself where you’re most needed. At the Crooks’ Convention flogging off FizzyAnus Kits to the insufficiently fizzy anused. Most of whom can be identified by that compulsive tick, that helpless flashing of cocktail party grimaces you call smiles.
Without checking that sounds very much like (a) the denial of the society of the school to a member of that society on the grounds that he has challenged (and won). That MUST be wrong if not actually unlawful, and (2) a public gesture of contempt for Justice Collins’ ruling.
I heard again the song Money Money from Cabaret this morning on Radionz with Liza Minelli and Joel Grey and it is such a sharply satirical clever tuneful song that it would be excellent to have a recording of it that someone should start playing at every NACT gathering before they can throw you out. (Health warning – watch out for Gerry Brownlee, Chief Bouncer but all NACTs would be able at attack positions and feints whether male or female.)
Money makes the world go around
…the world go around
…the world go around.
Money makes the world go around
It makes the world go ’round.
A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound.
Is all that makes the world go around
That clinking, clanking sound…
Can make the world go ’round
If you happen to rich
And you feel like a night’s entertainment
You can pay for a gay escapade.
If you happen to be rich and alone
And you need a companion
You can ring (ting-a-ling) for the maid.
If you happen to be rich
And you find you are left by your lover,
And you moan and you groan quite a lot
You can take it on the chin,
Call a cab and begin to recover
On your 14-karat yacht! WHAT!?
Money makes the world go around….
Of that we both are sure… rasberry sound on being poor!
Money money money money…
When you haven’t any coal in the stove
And you freeze in the winter
And you curse to the wind at your fate.
When you haven’t any shoes on your feet,
Your coat’s thin as paper,
And you look 30 pounds underweight
When you go to get a word of advice
From the fat little pastor,
He will tell you to love evermore.
But when hunger comes to rap,
rat-a-tat rat-a-tat at the window
knock knock (at the window)
Who’s there? (hunger) oh, hunger!!
See how love flies out the door…
For, money makes the world go around….
The clinking, clanking sound of…
Get a little, get a little
Money money money money…
Mark, a yen, a buck or a pound,
That clinking, clanking, clunking sound,
Is all that makes the world go ’round,
It makes the world go ’round!
Key is a craven coward! Happy to dish as much dirt as he can but scuttles away like a cockroach to hide under the nearest log when he is caught out in his lies and smears against people who he deems to be his enemy, then creeps out with a different persona which he uses until the crap that he created dies down. I don’t remember him quoting a figure of $38,000.00. That figure has only just been come to by the mathematical geniuses at nz herald, from alleged information quoting revised figures. He mentioned $15,000.00 for a book that now never gets mentioned. He also said he knew there was a lot more to come, smirk, smirk. Now he says he doesn’t know any details of Liu’s alleged donations and never has. Mr Liu must realise that all this distraction has been engineered by key and his sycophantic invertebrates to discredit Cunliffe as this is the ONLY way he has any chance of winning the next election. Dirty tricks is all he knows.
Key himself proudly announced a little while ago, that he keeps a chunk of dirty tricks material in his top drawer to be unleashed at a later time. An admission like that, coming from a prime minister, is so very shameful. He has tried to make our democracy, politics, way of life pretty mean and dirty.
Fleetstreet Hacks present their new hit-piece single
Tell Them Lies,
take it away guys ……
Each time you turn the page
you swear that we’ve rearranged just a line or two
Close them, close them, close those eyes
But when we find a way
to twist the truth then sure we deceive you too
Tell them, tell them, tell those lies
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
(Tell them lies, tell them, tell them lies)
Read it all it’s between the lines
(we can hide, we can really hide)
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
Although it’s in the plans
I hope that you understand
there’s a reason why
Close them, close them, close those eyes
So much to report on
But we get off making it up
as we go along
Tell them, tell them, tell them lies
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
(Tell them lies, tell them, tell them lies)
Read it all it’s between the lines
(we can hide, we can really hide)
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
Were my eyes deceiving me today while watching “The Nation”? Tony Ryall was interviewed and was shown to have a decidedly elongated and “pointed” noggin! Was a trick camera being used, maybe stolen from a travelling carnival? I’ve never seen his head look like that before. It was really really strange, we were laughing so much we didn’t hear one word he said – no worries, I’m sure we didn’t miss much! Anyone else see it?
WANT BLAIR GONE AS “PEACE ENVOY”?
HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Friday 27th June 2014 will mark the seventh year that Tony Blair has served as the Quartet Representative to the Middle East. This is an urgent call to end this insult to the region’s people by having him sacked as the so-called “Peace Envoy.”
SEVEN REASONS FOR SEVEN YEARS
To mark the occasion, here are seven reasons to #SackBlair for the seven years he has been in the role.
1) War = Peace?! Tony Blair and George W Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq destroyed an entire Middle Eastern society.
2) Pro-Israeli bias Both as Prime Minister and Envoy, Blair has shown a consistent and blatant bias towards Israel.
3) 7 years bad luck for Palestine The last seven years have shown Blair either incapable or unwilling to achieve anything meaningful for the Palestinian people.
4) Conflict of interest? The way Blair works, it is often unclear where his envoy role ends and his business interests begin.
5) Peace Envoy = Warmonger?! Since his appointment Blair has repeatedly called for yet more Middle Eastern wars – in Iran, Syria and now Iraq again.
6) Living like a V.I.P. – on our V.A.T. As Envoy Blair has luxuriated in Jerusalem’s poshest hotel at the taxpayer’s expense, while families in the Occupied Territories struggle to feed their children.
7) Advising autocrats Alongside his envoy role, Blair has been hiring himself out to tyrants with histories of human rights abuses.
THIS IS OUR TIME
With Tony Blair’s outrageous comments and Iraq in flames across the news, there’s no better time than now to launch this campaign.
Professor Chomsky, British MPs from both major parties and three former UK ambassadors to the Middle East already support our campaign. Now it’s your turn….
+100%. The Guardian has all the gruesome details today of his current conflicts of interest… a crook beyond imagining in fact. Chief fomenter in fact if you follow the dots.
Yep. Even made membership of Parliamentary Labour Friends of Israel compulsory for any Labour MP who wanted to make it to high office back in the late 90s / early-mid zeros.
Astounding that this piece of shit was ever allowed to become leader.
Narayan’s battery uses water and organic compounds called quinones (oxidized organic compounds) for its electroactive part. Quinones are naturally occurring, energy-storing compounds found in plants, animals and bacteria and are used in photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The battery specifically uses an adapted version of benzoquinone that can be dissolved in water.
Sounds good. This is the type of innovation we need.
But the secret of their success?
The battery is still in the lab phase, and USC is funding its research in part with a grant, awarded last year, from the Department of Energy’s early-stage high-risk ARPA-E. program.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful especially in the home solar panel industry. Some installers suggest having a storage system as well as an overflow back to the grid. But lead batteries? Mmm!
From Mother Jones a hint that Catholic church rules about birth control and gay marriage etc may be revisited by the Vatican. Probably little would change in Western societies but….
“On Pope Francis’ orders, the Vatican will convene an urgent meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people’s lives….The run-up to the synod has been extraordinary in itself, a departure from usual practice that some say is a mark of the pope’s radical new leadership style, and a canny tactic to defuse dissent over potential reforms.
….Within a few months of his election last year, Francis directed every diocese in the world to survey local attitudes on family and relationships and report back to the Vatican, a canvassing of a sort that few of the faithful can recall previously..
….Taking the public temperature also brings tactical advantages. Nobody at the Vatican will be surprised to learn that vast numbers of Catholics disobey its ban on premarital sex and birth control, or that some are in gay partnerships. Setting down those realities irrefutably on paper, however, could strengthen a bid by Francis to soften the church’s official line and put pressure on bishops inclined to resist, including some in the United States and many in Asia and Africa, conservative areas where the church has been growing….” http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/04/pope-francis-convenes-vatican-synod-family-and-sex
This is a few years old now but still relevant – especially the bit about how selling state assets has left us worse off.
Those foreign asset sales and the foreign borrowing through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s are now expressing themselves in a continual leeching of dividends and interest payments that have essentially stalled per capita growth in income domestically.
Essentially, any GDP growth since 2003 has been gobbled up by interest payments and dividends. We are essentially now borrowing to pay the interest on previous debt and the rent on foreign-owned assets. We have passed the point of no return.
If we want to make our society better then we need to return our economy to full NZ ownership.
“If we want to make our society better then we need to return our economy to full NZ ownership.”
First nz economy has never been in full NZ ownership, so we cannot return to such a place given that we were never there.
Perhaps you could then request say to David Cunliffe tomorrow that as a suggested policy all the funds from nz super, EQC, ACC and other govt investment funds to be solely invested in nz as a start – good luck there.
Instead which is increasing in frequently here, when challenged attack those who challenge instead why not put up and justify your position. You made a statement back it up.
A quick refresher: In 1995, after winning a majority in the House for the first time in forty years, one of the first things the new Republican House leadership did was gut Congress’s workforce. They cut the “professional staff” (the lawyers, economists, and investigators who work for committees rather than individual members) by a third. They reduced the “legislative support staff” (the auditors, analysts, and subject-matter experts at the Government Accountability Office [GAO], the Congressional Research Service [CRS], and so on) by a third, too, and killed off the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) entirely. And they fundamentally dismantled the old committee structure, centralizing power in the House speaker’s office and discouraging members and their staff from performing their own policy research. (The Republicans who took over the Senate in 1995 were less draconian, cutting committee staff by about 16 percent and leaving the committee system largely in place.) Today, the GAO and the CRS, which serve both House and Senate, are each operating at about 80 percent of their 1979 capacity. While Senate committee staffs have rebounded somewhat under Democratic control, every single House standing committee had fewer staffers in 2009 than in 1994. Since 2011, with a Tea Party-radicalized GOP back in control of the House, Congress has cut its budget by a whopping 20 percent, a far higher ratio than any other federal agency, leading, predictably, to staff layoffs, hiring and salary freezes, and drooping morale.
Counties boy here, from way back. Saw it when it came out. Captured the people and lifestyle beautifully… and a side of Pukekohe rarely seen. The reggae was cool as too bro
Just under the surface running through the whole fillim, countless stereotypes of a negative nature, the only thing absent a KFC or Macca’s, along with a whole violin concert of touchy feelies to signify nobility,
Good to see the brown brothers in fillim tho, despite my criticism, the next one on is more topical,but, the thugby is going to interrupt,
Did Bob even visit the Marae out at Puke, i know of one He had a great time at down here, even playing His favorite game wif the kids out on the road well into the night…
Dam! Just heard that Peter Fry finishes next Saturday night. What a shame. We have now lost so many announcers that could speak in voices that everyone could understand with a measured pace and without the frenetic pace that announcers are now required to speak. I would be surprised if Peter was wanting top leave more likely the station is determined to remove every trace of intelligent great sounding people.
Only one left as far as I know.
This is a real loss. Peter Fry is a wonderful presenter. Surely he wasn’t forced to leave? If so something is very wrong at RNZ.
Peter Fry’s tone is one of kindness and he takes a genuine interest in the requests, dedications, and messages, often to elderly and sick listeners. A real public service.
Don’t know what happened to “weekend social”, but this is stuff worth noting, Selena, bombastic singer and talent, sadly killed too early by bullets from some acquaintance, or so, years ago:
This was her LAST concert, a friend recommended it, and I find it good, but it is not “revolutionary”, to be honest. But culture and passion deserve recognition, whether revolutionary or less so, enjoy!
Salvador Allende, murdered by his own soldiers or security services, paid for by the CIA, the murder of a nation, you can say.
Disgusting, it is, what happened in many countries in Latin America, like in Chile, and the people were denied a voice, there with a military raid, we have not got there yet, we are “just manipulated”. But the threat and danger is the SAME, we are seized, corrupted and “bought” by forces of global scale “multinationals”, and their servant power player, one John Key.
It is time for Kiwis to bloody wake up, I mean the wider public, to the corruption, the manipulation and selling out of what this country supposedly stands for. It is a corrupt society here, I have ample information, that reaches even into the levels of supposed “Offices of Parliament”, like the Office of Ombudsmen, the Privacy Commissioner, the Health and Disability Commissioner, they are ALL compromised and CORRUPTED by the system in place.
YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHTS HEARD AND MET under this corrupt system that abounds and rules in this rotten country. You are misled and dumbed down, to believe this is a “democracy” and that this place follows the “rule of law”. NO, learn another thing, this is a lying system, with old boys and girls networks, it is no less corrupt than many countries in Latin America. I know!
I have taken issues to said offices, for myself and others, and they all “strangely” do not even follow natural justice, they use “discretion” to degrees, it is a FARCE, the law applied here. To really get “justice”, you are forced to go to the High Court and swear you pay thousands of dollars if you lose your claim and proceedings. You are “fucked” in this rotten country, and if you believe this is a just” and “honest” society, you are brainwashed and an IDIOT!
Sorry to be so damned blunt, that is NZ Aotearoa RAW, and even Labour will NOT change the truth, that is why I will NOT vote them.
It is time for a damned waking up and a revolution in this docile place, if only some would have the bloody courage, it is a total disgrace, how manipulated and bought this country and society has become under one John Key, a TRAITOR of principles and human values.
Make a damned difference, dear readers, wake the hell up, and vote this bastard OUT, and his gang of corrupt and manipulative self serving business players. Thank you, RIP.
The artists themselves are only part of the problem here. Many of them are acting in good faith, making what they want to make and then selling it. But at least some of them are complicit, catering to a new breed of hungry, high-yield risk-averse buyers, eager to be part of a rapidly widening niche industry. The ersatz art in which they deal fundamentally looks the way other art looks. It’s colloquially been called Modest Abstraction, Neo-Modernism, M.F.A. Abstraction, and Crapstraction. (The gendered variants are Chickstraction and Dickstraction.) Rhonda Lieberman gets to the point with “Art of the One Percent” and “aestheticized loot.” I like Dropcloth Abstraction, and especially the term coined by the artist-critic Walter Robinson: Zombie Formalism.
Why is the Left in NZ so damned shy to not shout it out, we want JUSTICE, EQUALITY and WORKERS’ RIGHTS, what is so damned “embarrassing” about all this???
Revolution requires ready minds and souls and bodies, we have NONE of it here, they are mostly easily “bought” for favours, forget it, forget election 2014, it is a LOST game, with lost souls and lost players.
Bah, bah, bah, is the message, commercial advertising is sending the messages, no doubt here, hand over your brain at the counter, you may get a discount for picking it up in a “pickled” state. Best of luck, you do NOT deserve it, lazy brains.
It must be frustrating to see National ride so high in the polls. It must mean people are thick. Wrong.• National values are as follows
Loyalty to our country, its democratic principles and our Sovereign as
Head of State
• National and personal security
• Equal citizenship and equal opportunity
• Individual freedom and choice
• Personal responsibility
• Competitive enterprise and rewards for achievement
• Limited government
• Strong families and caring communities
• Sustainable development of our environment
Now that deserves over 50%.
I took a taxi after the Nat conference and convinced the Somalian taxi driver to change his vote from Labour to National in just ten minutes. Someone has lied to him that national hated the poor.
National do hate the poor. National claiming to have those values is as big a lie as when you said Cunliffe had promised labour would be on more than 40% by the election
Hilarious. The only thing on the list that National are doing is the “limited government” bit, though not the sense of “limited” that you thought of when you typed it. The rest they are either ignoring, or doing the opposite.
LABOUR’S PRINCIPLES SET OUT MORE CLEARLY than Nat’s abstract sound bite BS:
The Labour Party accepts the following democratic socialist principles:
All political authority comes from the people by democratic means including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot.
The natural resources of New Zealand belong to all the people and these resources, and in particular non-renewable resources, should be managed for the benefit of all, including future generations.
All people should have equal access to all social, economic, cultural, political and legal spheres, regardless of wealth or social position, and continuing participation in the democratic process.
Co-operation, rather than competition, should be the main governing factor in economic relations, in order that a greater amount and a just distribution of wealth can be ensured.
All people are entitled to dignity, self-respect and the opportunity to work.
All people, either individually or in groups, may own wealth or property for their own use, but in any conflict of interest people are always more important than property and the state must ensure a just distribution of wealth.
The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document of New Zealand and that the Treaty should be honoured in government, society and the family.
Peace and social justice should be promoted throughout the world by international co-operation and mutual respect.
The same basic human rights, protected by the State, apply to all people, regardless of race, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religious faith, political belief or disability.
Now that deserves 100%!
I would like to meet that Somalian taxi driver of yours to see what propaganda, spin, lies and BS you peddled to him in your sound bites in just 10 minutes of the highway ride.
He told me that he would convince his entire extended family to change to the party that is giving him free doctors visits for under 13’s, literacy classes, insulated homes, pensions at 65 and wages rising twice faster than inflation. That’s actually 6 Labour votes now voting National. He pledged his word and we shook on the deal.
You do realise most of those are actually Labour ‘s socialist policies stolen by your RWN job National crooks to fool the gullible, while continuing with their agenda to be the party that really works for the benefit of the wealthy, right?
The usual generalised sound-bites there. I don’t think this government has been for strong families and caring communities at all. This government policy has been to fragment low income families and keep wages low. They’ve said as much in public. It’s “good” for the economy.
You can keep your other statements but don’t try to say low income communities have been supported by this government’s policies.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
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LOL. Go for it, John!
Do the left a favour, for at least 3 out of four of these. I think Ian Lees Galway has been doing a good job, though.
Yes I like Iain, he is an accessible Labour electorate MP (one of the few “provincial” Labour ones around at the moment), and he has been doing a great job of building the Palmerston North electorate back up as a well organised Labour stronghold.
“National’s strategy could disrupt Labour’s efforts to maximise the party vote, given that the survival of those MPs could hinge on them campaigning for the electorate vote instead to keep their political careers afloat. ”
Um, isn’t the risk that National’s strategy could disrupt their own efforts to maximise their own party vote? See what happens when journalists recycle press releases; their critical faculties wither and die. They become husks of their former selves, mere jonolists.
And that’s assuming that their “former selves” were anything to write about in the first place.
Vance: “Key will use his speech tomorrow to make the first of a series of policy announcements between now and the election campaign proper getting under way, when National is expected to start rolling out policy at the rate of one a day. ”
One a day? Dump at that rate and they will all end up in the dump – unread!
I suspect that “unread” is exactly the way National prefer their policies.
They’ll just be bullet pointed sheets of A4 that even the dumbest idiots will be able to read. It’s not as if they’ll have facts or logic to back them up – just ideology.
Look at this bullshit spin……
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10208604/Grim-times-at-justice-ministry
Justice Secretary Andrew Bridgman – ‘‘People see the broader vision and the strategy … but they don’t see how the plan connects them in their day to day activity. That’s why they don’t see the ministry succeeding and they don’t feel valued how they want to be valued.’’
How about – “people don’t feel valued because all they see is spin……..they DON’T see any broader vision nor any strategy…….” ?
Remind me…….who’s the minister ?
I can confirm that working conditions at the Ministry are terrible. Personally, I can’t see why anyone would work there given the poor pay and patronizing management style.
The PSA reps really earn their money, it would be much worse without their heroic efforts.
@ North Sounds like management speak as taught in some university course.
Dunedin Green Party Campaign Launch today 3pm at the railway station. Candidates; Metiria Turei (Dn Nth), Shane Gallagher (Dn Sth) & Chris Ford (List) will be speaking, plus musicians, photobooth, and afternoon tea.
Even if you haven’t RSVPd, it’s a fairly big space so there should be room for anyone who happens to be in town this avo (and isn’t just coming along to disrupt the event).
https://www.facebook.com/GreenPartyDunedin2014
Cool. Hope it goes well.
(apologies for the double-posting – this from the fag-end of yesterdays’ epic-thread..
..but i feel these are questions that need addressing..both by labour..and the greens..)
so..all those drone-killings targeted from waihopai..
..means the blood of all those innocent-of-anything civilians/men/women/children is on keys’ hands..
..(i hope he has strong soap/disinfectant/dream-suppressors..he won’t get away with that one..)
..and he is doing it all..in our name..as our ‘leader’..
..will cunnliffe do any different..?
..or will he still allow the americans to use waihopai to help target their drone-strikes..?
..and will green-ministers be in cabinet-solidarity with that..?
..whoar..!
..eh..?
..what price that bmw..?
Phillip, you’re slipping, there’s a newspaper poll out that favors dope decriminalization, i would have thought you would have been onto it first thing…
ha! Next time stamp 7:54am
@ bad..heh..!..snap..!
..but believe it or not..i consider our govt aiding in the butchering of entirely innocent of anything men/women/children at the behest of the fucken americans..
..to be a more important issue than dope-reform..
..and it actually horrifies me that i see the prospect of a lab/green govt continuing to have a hand in those killings/murders..
..to my mind..that would be..by any definition..’evil’..
..(and would..you’d think..?..
..have the likes of keith locke spinning in his retirement..)
Labour is definitely opposed to it. I am pretty sure Greens and InternetMANA are too.
This is what Mr Cunliffe said about it. He is very clear about the issue you have raised. Listen to it from about 04:00 onwards:
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/no-evidence-donations-david-cunliffe-video-6009562
thank you for that clem..some of that was reassuring..
..but useless journo that she is..woods never asked him about five-eyes spooking all over us..and our (admitted by key) role in those drone-strikes..
..and then at 8 mins cunnliffe went on at some length on our ‘good’ relationship with america..
..but the fact is merica wd consider it very unfriendly of nz to pull back from giving them the full-support they have enjoyed with (satrap) key..
..so the questions are still unanswered..i feel..
I don’t think it would be too difficult to have good relations with USA but at the same time be more independent and preserving our freedom and sovereignty at the same time. Like so many countries are able to do at present. Whole scale snooping as revealed by Edward Snowden and Julian Assange should definitely be stopped while legitimate warranted security oversight could be allowed as long as they are with legally approved by legislation and judiciary.
And Philip’s election smear campaign against Labour and the Greens continues unabated. 🙄
what you call ‘smear-campaign’..i call valid-questions..
..i take it you wd be happy/’relaxed’ with green-ministers getting this blood on their hands..?
..in yr name..?
..them being ministers is more important..?
If I said you were like a cracked record, you’d probably try to smoke it.
Just far too one dimensional to be taken seriously.
If you’re not smearing and really want the answers, write to DC and MT/RN and ask.
well..as i haven’t raised this subject before..hardly’ cracked-record’..
..and i think these are questions that should be asked/answered in the public domain..
..’cos as far as i can see..
..internet/mana are the only contender in this election..
..with a policy of tearing up that five-eyes spying agreement..
..and ending our role in these killings..
..and i think that will matter to many new zealanders..
..i think many are horrified at what john key has been doing in our name/to the detriment of our international reputation..
..and in secret..
..and that many labour/green supporters wd be as horrified as me at the idea of ‘their’ parties in government..
..just continuing our role in this killing at the behest of america..
..(and no..to ‘smoking it’..my crack-days are long gone..long unlamented..)
Your Labour/green bashing is as laughable and boringly predictable as those on the right. Congratulation if you wanted to be seen as the whaleoil of the lunatic left – You won.
Write to the party leaders, ask their stances and report back here.
More of the same vitriol and invective will just confirm the suspected.
Contact details:
Email: david.cunliffe@parliament.govt.nz
Email: metiria.turei@parliament.govt.nz
Email: russel.norman@parliament.govt.nz
i don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions..
..cunnliffe will continue to support ‘our important relationship with america’..
..and has made no mention of ending that five-eyes arrangement..
..and the greens will be bound by cabinet-solidarity..
..so the killings will continue..
..what else do you need to know..
(and i know how adept you are at ignoring uncomfortable-facts..yr ‘but i only eat them’ response to the facts of flesh-consumption yesterday..
..highlighted that..)
You should have highlighted this part of the quote too…
“though if I had to, I’d be quite capable of getting my hands bloody, if it were ultimately either me or them, I’d eat fluffy wuffy kittens and puppy tail stew”
“i don’t need to write to them to know the answers”
That’s why I called bs smear artist, thanks for backing me up.
yawn..!..see ya..!
Philip, DC is doing a q&a here, do you want me to link to your question to him, or are you going to be asking it yourself?
http://thestandard.org.nz/david-cunliffe-two-way-on-sunday-at-4/
…I see you have already asked, but a bit of a bottle job with the phrasing…. whoar…eh?…
So … you have questions that “you feel need addressing” – so much so you post them in two separate Open Mikes – but you also “don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions”?
It looks like you just want to be constantly associating Labour and the Greens with drone strikes, which pretty much fills the criteria for a smear campaign.
‘constantly’..?
..get a grip..!
..i mentioned it last nite..and today..
..and you don’t think it is a valid question..?
..you don’t care if the drone killings continue or not..?
..and yes..i will keep asking..until we get the answers…
“i don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions..”
phil, I have read and wandered on past your prolific and monotonous postings of late, but seriously dude!
Are you now claiming a David Carter inspired prescience ?
lol
didn’t Carter take the skill from phil?
no..just a reading of what has happened up until now..
..do you think i am wrong..?
Up until NZ banned nuclear warships, we allowed nuclear warships.
So Phillip, maybe directing a couple of questions to those you are so willing to admonish, is not really that unreasonable of a suggestion.
sorry..i don’t get/understand the relevance of yr nuke-ships reference..
..and these are not personal/idiosyncratic-questions..
..they are questions with a high public-interest to many on the left..
..i just happen to be asking the questions..
Sorry Phillip, but if you cannot discern the obvious relevance to your statement I quoted, maybe there are more important questions like why do you feel so qualified to cast judgement on such complex issues?
I am not going to enter a prolonged debate on this so don’t expect a reply to your reply, but if you really need the thing laid out for you, here it is.
If no-one inside or outside of Government made the effort to change policy, it is fair to assume that policy would not change.
to your refusal to ask those who would be making the policies;
If when given the means and opportunities to ask those who are in a position to change their policies, you refuse to accept, how do you expect them to be aware that you feel the policy is in need of change?
way to attack the messanger..eh..?
..you another one who doesn’t give a fuck if we are killing for america..?
..and go look at the cunnliffe-thread..
..the questions are asked there..
..and stop being a total fucken wanker..
..while you are at it..eh..?
..and i see you swerve from the question..
‘….do you think i am wrong..?..’
..are these questions that should not be asked of an incoming govt..?
..in yr mind..?
..and what will make these questions even more urgent..
..is that i am picking the upcoming snowden-dump will reflect as poorly on the clark govt..as it will on key..
..and that the stance of any future labour govt. will come sharply into focus..
..after that snowden-spook-dump..
..so no..i won’t shut-up/stop asking publicly..for public answers…
(and colour me dumb..
“..Up until NZ banned nuclear warships, we allowed nuclear warships..”
..but no..i can’t see the reading you are putting on the above fact’..as per it being at all relevant to what i am asking..)
..and yr chosen moniker is ‘freedom’..eh..?..that’s funny..!..
..quite selective..yr ‘freedom’ advocacy..eh..?
..innocent drone-strike victims don’t quite make the grade..?
..eh..?
“And Philip’s election smear campaign against Labour and the Greens continues unabated.”
Not to worry, Jenny is back.
I don’t deny the commitment isn’t laudable, but in this case, that’s about it.
@phillip Key’s whole life is a dream. Something to do with being relaxed all the time, he doesn’t have anything to dream about when he actually goes to sleep.
The words signifying nothing came to mind. I find on google it’s from Macbeth and the quotes from it are all so descriptive and apt for either Key and/or the NACTS!
Shakespeare was brilliant, very knowing and had writing skills and vocabulary par excellence!
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/quotes-quotations-play-macbeth.htm
Here are some. The first applies if his support did aid drone strikes.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” Macbeth Quote (Act II, Sc. II).
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself, and falls on the other.” – ( Quote Act I, Scene VII).
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Macbeth Quote (Act I, Scene V).
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. – ( Quote Act I, Scene I).
“I bear a charmed life”. Macbeth Quote (Act V, Sc. VIII).
and
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Macbeth Quote (Act V, Scene V).
warbler..!
..yr introducing kultcha into the bar-room brawl that is open-mile..
..we’ll all have to pull our socks up now..
@phillip
You and I can fight and chew gum at the same time better than those others and while balancing our beers on our heads.
To the bridge Horatius —
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatius_Cocles! There is a picture here of a Horatius that I don’t match up to, so hope you do.
Savage words traded P.Ure and T.Allen…….well……a bit o’ The Bard kindly tossed in by ‘Warbler……happy ending.
We are united. Dedicated to throwing off the cloak of falseness and foulness which pervades governance. In ShonKey Python land.
Our Sydney-based spin doctor William Shakespeare exposes it seminally…….“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Macbeth Quote (Act I, Scene V).
Well done ‘Warbler getting all that together. Entertaining on top of soooo true !
@North
You have got me thinking – ‘our Sydney based’ – would Fred Dagg still take an interest in our little farm? We must seem pretty funny from over in OZ. Should we send him a new black singlet, for nostalgic wearing and tell him we love him and would like to hear from him. See what he says? Anyone know his feelings on this?
Fred Dagg could do a passable lampooning of ShonKey Python actually. Especially the ‘global statesman’ persona the big wank tries to affect after a week affixed kissing gourami-like to Obama’s arse. Heard him simpering on in the TVOne News about the “inner sanctum” of the “kitchen cabinet”……..which is apparently where the decision re The Colon will be made. What a pretensious ponce !
there is an interesting poll in the herald on cannabis law reform..showing a seachange of sorts in attitudes to that issue..
..and the surprise/takeaway for me was that 45% of national party voters support decriminalisation/legalisation of pot..(!)
..well..!..knock me over with a big-bud..eh..?
Closet tokers and dopers all, and, if Jackie Blue the ex-National MP is to be considered ”run of the mill” there’s quite a bit of family ”biffo” occurring in the feral upper-class of the National Parties ranks…
and that cross-ideological support for law-change..must strengthen the hand of the internet party –
..you’d think..?
..as that wd tap into that cross-ideological support..
..and win them more votes than a wishy-washy pot-policy will..
..and cd well draw support/votes from ‘soft’-nattys..who wd never take that step too far..of voting green…
i must admit Phillip to not having given the issue much thought at all recently, along with alcohol, dope is off the menu here at the Mansion,
Obviously i favor a simple blanket decriminalization of Marijuana be that growing for personal use or possession for personal use,
The codicil to that would have to be some pretty harsh penalties imposed upon anyone who for whatever reason allowed/caused those under 18 to get their hands on the ‘stash’,
My view is the responsibility for youngsters not getting stoned befor a legal age would have to rest upon the adult who legally possessed the supply, even to the point where it could be shown that the kids had sussed the stash and half inched all or part of it,
As a non-smoker who possesses quite a body of knowledge surrounding plant growth and also possesses a pile of 600’s along with an array of other stuff that some would describe as a comprehensive kit i am supremely relaxed as to the time-frame a Law change could be conceivably seen in this country…
when the law does change..we should go into business..
..you can grow a high-quality boutique-brand…’bad’ wd be a good name for it..(‘nz-bad’..?..)
..and i’ll take care of the branding/marketing/retail end of things..
..and we’ll go 50/50..
..whaddayareckon..?
Lolz Phillip, i reckon you are my friend about half a decade too late, if you search the records back about there you will find tales of a million dollar tinny house being busted in Porirua,
Despite malicious rumors spread by my many enemies i (laughingly) deny any involvement what-so-ever in having ever been any part of the supply chain all or in part for this particular enterprise,
My innocence shines not quite as brightly as the winter sun does upon this very fine Winter’s day but shine it does,
Your offer Phillip of 50/50 as part of such a business relationship is also ludicrous, given Legislation that allowed such legal production i would have to be entirely dull not to have sufficient skills to be able to both grow and retail the product,
My best offer in a situation where production was legalized would have to be a discount rate of minus fifty dollars on the accepted current price of a bulk buy in terms of O’s…
Your skills are not in doubt good sir, its always a question of level of motivation and interest 😉
As a good Socialist the question here is usually about Needs,(not necessarily always personal)weighed against Risks…
ah well..it’s a roadside-stall for you then..
..i was thinking on a somewhat grander scale..
..and i think/hope the retail price will drop significantly when those blackmarket-pressures ease..
.and that control the grower currently has..will end..
..and the competition will be fierce..(with ‘quality on its’ own becoming a ‘given’..)
..which means branding/marketing etc will come into its’ own importance..
..but..a stall it is…
“which means branding/marketing etc will come into its’ own importance”
That’s right, and why The Al1en’s triangular Trichome space cakes are out of this world.
“that control the grower currently has..will end”
Nope, because unlike your posts, quality always trumps quantity. 😉 😆
Your pricked ego Phillip simply results in you posting of the dull as attempted wit, your marketing skills are questionable to say the least,
IF you have a million viewers over there at your ‘attention whore’ web-page without the income to justify the effort i would suggest said marketing skills are zero,
Of course as in the dope world ‘quality’ of writing in the case of your website would tend to be the benchmark of the ability to produce revenue from ones efforts but even the Herald manages to generate some revenue from its efforts so i would doubt your possession of satisfactory skills in either area,
Given such a failure on your part i hardly need concern myself with your ego-centric notions of being some form of marketing guru and should i wish to indulge myself in the pursuit we have previously been discussing i can assure you that one text invitation to coffee to one individual from among a number of individuals on my phone list,(which for the life of me doesn’t appear to exist in this particular house-hold) would remove from my presence within the hour any amount i would care to produce…
gosh bad12 you must learn to address pertinent points without ‘beating around the bush’! 😈
Lolz CV, spose i could have just printed a terse bullshit instead, however i do like to drag those i am in conversation with into the byzantine alleyways of my mind in the hope that they too might catch a dose of what ails me,
We all would then be said to be conversing from the benefit of a level playing field…
have you always had these radical mood-swings..?
..and were you an ugly-drunk..?
i fail to ascertain a mood swing of any sort evident in my writing this day Phillip, perhaps the shit you have been spewing forth has somewhat clouded the crystal ball you seem to be using to divine my mood,
Well no must be the answer to your second question, i was always at the time pretty drunk,
You could tho test your theory of my ugliness by buying me a 40oz Black Label and then hanging about whilst i imbibed of the whole container…
pass..!
So what are you waiting for?
People don’t effect change by sitting back and whining; they effect change by getting up and working.
BOYCOTT it, the NZHerald that is, if you have a subscription, cancel it, convince your friends and relatives to either cancel their subscriptions or not to buy the vicious piece of rubbish from the gas station or wherever their habit has them doing so,
Complaining to the press council or sending emails to the Herald itself is a pointless exercise, as one commenter showed us yesterday when the contents of an email were repeated here and ‘the Editor’, obviously taking the piss, spat back at the complaint referring to an ”un-sourced” code of journalistic ethics,
My opinion says that the whole Liu/Labour non-donations fiasco was deliberate, people who with deliberation spread such lies as propaganda are never going to apologize or retract their lies and we all are simply pissing into the wind if we have any expectation that they will,
PUNISH them, hit the NZHerald where it will hurt, Boycott the utter garbage gutter rag that it is and convince everyone you know to do the same,
The up-coming Labour Party Conference should spread that message throughout the membership, the time for complaining is over, give the NZHerald a message it cannot fail to understand, Hit them in the pocket, do not buy the product….
re herald:..just go online for it..stop buying it..!
..and i always feature anything they may have that is worth reading/of note..anyway..
..(or just worthy of a serious slagging..c.f…hewitsons’ dismal interview of harre..today..
..i just posted the headline..and then just ripped into it..
..really really dire..even for her..and that is saying something..
..you walk away from it with the sum total of yr human-knowledge increased not a jot..)
Mr Liu may feel like he’s lost quite a bit of face due to the way labour has used him for political point scoring.
So hardly surprising,he’s after a bit of utu.
Also, if the herald is going behind a pay well, the majority of its subscribers will be of a blue shade so it would make sense to target their stories at the people who buy/subscribe to their publication.
Stupidly, you seem to hold to a belief that the Herald possesses some form of comprehensive statement from Liu that details 100,s of thousands of dollars of donations to Labour,
Your refusal to entertain the notion that the Herald may have been the one to ”Inflate” a small donation,(to a rowing club), into that claim of 100’s of 1000’s is charming yet childishly lacking in intelligence,
The latest sum arrived at by the Herald is now $38,000, the claim is that this is a revised figure from further information given by Liu to the Herald,
i have no belief that Liu has given the Herald any ”further” information as i have little belief that the Herald is in possession of a comprehensive statement from Liu which details such supposed gifts,
My belief until such time as the Herald provides ”Proof”, as in the printing of these supposed statements from Liu to the Herald, is that a Journalist, or, Journalists have simply concocted this whole sordid mess of lies with deliberation….
It keeps on coming … they seem to have a direct line from Liu or someone who speaks English or someone who speaks for him … how else could they possibly know he has hired Paul Davison QC to lead “a team of advisers” to ward off any fight with Labour ? This does threaten death by a thousand cuts … and I hope Blip is reading .. just heard Key on The Nation say all he said in US was that there was a donation of $38,000! oh dear .. ruined my morning and I had to turn him off.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11283405
More slime from Slippery, the quote from the Amerikan sojourn was that the donations from Liu to Labour were six figure sums…
Key is a craven coward! Happy to dish as much dirt as he can but scuttles away like a cockroach to hide under the nearest log when he is caught out in his lies and smears against people who he deems to be his enemy, then creeps out with a different persona which he uses until the crap that he created dies down. I don’t remember him quoting a figure of $38,000.00. That figure has only just been come to by the mathematical geniuses at nz herald, from alleged information quoting revised figures. He mentioned $15,000.00 for a book that now never gets mentioned. He also said he knew there was a lot more to come, smirk, smirk. Now he says he doesn’t know any details of Liu’s alleged donations and never has. Mr Liu must realise that all this distraction has been engineered by key and his sycophantic invertebrates to discredit Cunliffe as this is the ONLY way he has any chance of winning the next election. Dirty tricks is all he knows.
Labour never used him for political point scoring – they just pointed out that National were taking bribes and he was one of the people who seemingly tried to bribe National.
Yep, it’s going to turn into an echo chamber on a par with WhaleOil. No journalistic integrity and stories made up out of whole cloth.
There is a man in our parliament whose name sounds exactly like “camcorder” and no-one ever makes fun of it.
Sometimes I’m embarrassed to be a New Zealander.
that’s ‘cos it’s old/retro-tech..
…which makes it even funnier!!
While all the smearing in the Herald is going on, Dita De Boni has something important to say about how New Zealanders see themselves in the world.
The first comment on the article is right on the button too, imo.
i think that if key in his role of eager-satrap/wingman to obamas’ imperial-adventures..
..thinks this has gone un-noticed by those third world countries essential to nz getting a seat on the security council..
..i think he is dreaming..
..and i will be very surprised/having to admit ‘i wuz wrong!’..
..if we do get that placement..
I agree with you.
I’ve noticed how the NActs have lately taken any opportunity to mention Labour began this process. It’s like they’re not keen to take credit for the cost on an allmighty failure themselves.
As I wrote to Dita, she is lucky to be able to tell what John Key thinks NZ’s Foreign Policy is. His opinion keeps changing according to who his audience is. Shifty?
Key’s and National’s foreign policy has always been to kiss US arse.
Interesting call from Hilary Clinton today giving Australia a slap for expecting the US to defend it but at the same time giving China considerable preferences. Any simularities to NZ??!! Key has the same feet on separating icebergs. What happens on D-Day?!
That first comment was spot on. I’m kinda hoping that a lot of people are waking up to the fact that we’re losing our way just so that Key and, by association, National can kiss US president arse.
FYI
8:15 Kent Greenfield RNZ NAT
Kent Greenfield is Professor of Law and Law Fund Research Scholar at Boston College Law School. He is the author of the 2011 book, The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits (Biteback Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-84954-307-1).
Worth a listen.
Sorry folks – audio not yet up at the time of this comment
The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits Amazon link
Sounds like an interesting book.
Does any one know what has happened to slatters court case?
There has be nothing reported for a while.
Blubber boy has apparently asked for time out while he grows a leg to stand on,(there is also no truth to the rumor that It has been forced to find a new kindergarten to attend having been excluded from attending because of a number of violent incidents)…
Not his long hair?
Decision reserved I believe and will be released in due course.
and in similar vein, does anyone know what happened at Liu’s sentencing on his domestic violence charges guilty please ? thx
Rumor has it that He will apply for diversion after making an anonymous six figure donation to the victim…
Sentencing has not yet taken place and is scheduled for 22 August, according to TVNZ.
Sorry for the long Google link; must re-educate myself how to shorten these.
http://www.google.co.nz/url?url=http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/businessman-linked-appears-in-court-5996668&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=L1urU6CcIoapkAXc_YH4Bg&ved=0CBYQFjAA&sig2=WdwvsfqWaf-JMcGR1U50wA&usg=AFQjCNFoz5CxXXVOVKWSwtRa7GS0r1HYDA
PS – I actually replied to your earlier query on this on 26 June with this link as I was also interested as to when sentencing was due.
thx VV .. I missed yr first one.
Jared Savage just doesn’t quit does he? Today’s article Lui hires QC to deal with any action from Labour.
Which contains the following:
“Labour Party general secretary Tim Barnett confirmed that a lawyer for the party had contacted Liu’s legal counsel but was yet to receive a substantive reply.
“The Labour Party has no dispute with Mr Liu because we have seen no evidence that he has published false information about us.””
And this is the output of the editor of investigative reporting?
Would it not be cheaper for Liu just to release his Herald statement to Lab?
I don’t really think the Liu is the problem. He doesn’t have his own publishing company – that I know of.
The error is entirely the result of the Herald journalists and editors that wrote and allowed such unsubstantiated information to be published – time and again – without providing the information necessary to Labour to investigate those claims.
I was interested to see that article as what it indicates IMO is that possibly legal action is being contemplated by Labour – by the party management, keeping Cunliffe out of it.
However, I agree that the Herald (rather than Jared Savage per se) just aren’t quitting, as evidenced by their editorial yesterday (now with over 300 comments, most scathing of the Herald).
In the Editorial, reference is made to further clarification this weekend on Lui’s statement (cannot remember the exact wording) which appeared to signal that The Herald has not given up.
This is possibly reinforced by a tweet from Tim Murphy about 6pm last night
“Donghua Liu – seems like some premature claims of the story ‘unravelling’ have been going on …”
So, watch this space.
But isn’t the unravelling about what had already been printed last week? The damage to the Labour Party was done with unsubstantiated allegations centred around 2007. The complaint is not with Mr Liu is it? It is with whoever planted the story with the Herald and the Herald for printing it.
Correct. Deflections on to Liu are completely misguided. He’s merely another private citizen. It’s the media institution of the NZ Herald which needs to be held to account.
I agree with you, that the real complaint should be with whoever planted the story etc, rather than Liu per se.
However, imo it could be well impossible (and possibly very disasterous) at this point to try to take a complaint of any sort, including legal action, against the Herald, or the National Party.
Liu could well be the weak link – in light of the statements he is purported to have made (although we have yet to see the hard copy) that he has donated equally to Labour and National – and that he is not liking being a political pawn in the battle between the two (cannot remember the exact words).
Pure speculation on my part, but putting pressure on Liu could lead to disclosures as to what (and who) influenced him to make his original early May statement, how this statement apparently found its way to Key shortly thereafter, and finally to the Herald some weeks later. Any such disclosures could then allow action to be taken against these other parties.
No court action sure, a front page apology should suffice 🙂
VV@11.2.1.2. 100+
Of course they haven’t given up. They’ve lost a lot of cred and they need to get something on Labour now or they are toast.
But anything they publish from now on needs to have iron-clad proof or they will be laughed off the newstands.
This could go one of two ways – either the HOS has something tomorrow (that’s where they dump all the legally dodgy stuff) or they will actually attempt to verify whatever rubbish they are being fed and will attack again when they are ready.
It’s beginning to get irritating, can’t even read the weekend ‘paper in peace now. The Herald reporters are still persisting with the sly insinuations about David Cunliffe
Savage added this bit….
“The Herald last week revealed Mr Cunliffe wrote a letter for Liu’s residency application, despite previous denials.”
(did he even deny that… don’t recall him being asked that exact question)
Armstrong just had to add these sly digs when talking about Parker…
“David Parker’s authority and influence as Labour’s deputy leader and finance spokesman has been on the rise as much as David Cunliffe’s has been on the wane.”
And…
“He will be able to blame a combination of factors for that, ranging from the current pick-up in economic growth being of huge electoral benefit to National to Cunliffe’s string of mistakes.”
Neither story was even about David Cunliffe and they still put the boot in. WTF is wrong with these people?
They’re putting the boot in trying to influence the election in National’s favour.
Labour policy pushes back against employers importing cheap labour to undercut Kiwis
Bloody good move, Red Team.
https://www.labour.org.nz/media/policy-focuses-high-skills-high
Ah that is very good to hear, thanks CV
I was doing seasonal work around 1999-2000 and was pretty shocked how much rent was being charged by orchard owners to workers coming in from other districts – it had gone from free rent years earlier, to charging fairly standard amount (from memory, around $80 per room at that time) however this was for a shared room with at least one other person this seemed like a real rort being conducted by orchard owners. it severely undercut the affordability of doing the job and quality of life while doing it – which for shed-work was at the very minimum wage. It was with a great deal of frustration that I heard about the schemes introduced a few years later (or perhaps it was around that same time) of importing cheap labour. Glad to hear that Labour are addressing an erroneous and damaging approach that I suspect they introduced. As the press release conveys importing cheap labour obviated the need to address the wage levels and rorts being conducted by the owners of orchards and fairly well pushed job opportunities away from New Zealanders.
They did introduce them and it is good to see them now realising that they were badly implemented and need fixing. This is possibly the first thing that they’ve actually got right so far.
Thanks for confirming that
the nation has done a worthwhile piece on the missing-million voters…
Yes and there will be tens of thousands just like the lady non voter interviewed that are going to vote this time because she wants a new PM/Government.
Key being interviewed by Gower ended on John Key saying 2015 is about changing the New Zealand flag. It wouldn’t surprise if he decides on a new star spangled banner design. How can people take this guy serious when the changing of the flag is important to him. If he was a real leader he would first drop the British monarchy and call for our independence and change the flag as part of the deal..
Only need 75,000 of those missing voters to turn up and vote LAB/GR/IMP, while 75,000 NAT voters decide to stay home. That would be a decisive win for the Left.
The vindictive Principal of St John’s College? Can you punish a lad for winning the right to his hair style?
“But the school put its foot down and told Lucan he wouldn’t be attending the school ball, and when he showed up with his boots for first XV rugby practice earlier this week, he was told he couldn’t train. ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/10209394/Lucans-hair-battle-hits-ball-plans
It is obvious that the Ministry of Education must step in to this affray, first drawing up a specific code surrounding hair that all schools must adhere to,(exclusion from any school activity being outlawed),and second, having provision to remove Principals for breaching any kids basic human rights,
Disgust is the best descriptive i can muster here without leaving a trail of abuse where the Principal in question has in effect shown His or Her contempt for the Court by devising what can only be seen as further punishments for the kid in question for the parents decision to dare to question the power this particular Principal wields in His/Her particular little Potentate,
There is NO evidence that the length or style of a students hair has any negative effect on their ability or their class’s ability to learn…
I heard that there are class photos from the school from the 1970’s – with boys who have even longer hair. Basically, the school administration needs to get on with doing its job of providing education, not punishment.
My guess is that the new Principal wanted to set a standard of no nonsense boss-ship and boxed himself into a corner and is now trying to regain the lost face. And probably support the teacher who sent the lad to the Principal in the first place.
This is exactly what I thought – especially given the school earlier trying to claim that his long hair was a cause of “disruption”. Nope, the school being inflexible wankers about a trivial rule is what’s causing the disruption.
Chris Miller at The Little Pakeha has a great post about the case:
http://www.thelittlepakeha.net/2014/06/27/hair/
it cd be worthwhile tracking down teenage photos of that now principal..
..to see just how long his hair was in the 70’s…
..but first..he should be fired..
Wonder how much it cost the school to lawyer-up to defend its master-of-the-universe bullshit ? Who’s the shitty little punk here ?
I’ll put my money on it being the solipsistic “School (me) WILL be obeyed !” principal. Not the kid. The more I see the more I applaud him and his family. Piss off immature and spiteful principal man/boy. And the self important social climbing wannabes on your board.
“No you can’t go to the ball…….no you’re not welcome at training……so there !”
Soooo Ugly-Step-Sister ! Reminds me of the idiot big-fish-little-pond bully, the headmaster at my own school ……..50 years ago.
There’s been a bit of this lately. The git state school principal in Whangarei who thought it unremarkable to stigmatise pupils whose parents hadn’t met school charges by excluding them from their classes. “Sit in the hall like on detention boys…..this is for your own good….”
he has to be short-listed for wanker-of-the-year..
Caption under photo: “HAIRLINE FRACTURE: An old photograph showing St John’s College board of trustees member, Byron Fergus (back row, middle), with long hair while he was a student at the school in 1988.
Oops. So the rules have changed have they? Possibly.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11283669
thanks 4 that..i am laughing like a drain here..
..and have thrown it up on whoar..
..what a wanker…!
..(he ‘won’t comment’ on the photo..understandable really..eh..?
..what cd he fucken say..?.
..heh..!..)
It’s high school… such a meaningless thing to get up in arms about but probably seems really important when you are there and trying to assert your individuality within those constraints like uniforms and all that, it becomes such a silly concern when you leave.
Better parents would have advised the kid to balance a meaningless assertion of individuality with the reality that it would disrupt a huge part of his school year.
Also could have been better handled by the school, ball and 1st XIV should have been used off the bat instead of suspension (as the judge suggested).
Actually, this oppressive rule shouldn’t even be there.
And the hypocritical dick who used to have long hair at the same school, but who is now on the Board of Trustees and who chaired the disciplinary committee, he definitely shouldn’t be there. Lameass.
Hooton on The Nation could be edited and played as a political advert for National. Hooton watch the replay and read the minds of what the rest of the panel are thinking in your final lines of spin.
Backing up Joyce’s snake oil about many of the non voters in National seats last time were actually National voters is total crap. If you were a left voter in one of these safe seats your hardly inspired to turn up to vote as ya not going to roll the electorate candidate are you? Labour done themselves no favours by not running a ‘strongly focused party vote strategy.’ Don’t worry our mate McCarten will see to the party vote messaging this time. Now go down a triple shot java to wake your delusional head up on how to come across credible.
Yep. The labour get out the vote effort tends to happen in strong labour seats or marginal seats. For instance in Tamaki there is a rich vein of labour support in Glen Innes but the local party struggles to get them out. Those people must be really put off voting by the apparent overwhelming sign of National’s strength in the area and I am not surprised that they did not vote last time.
Yeah, Glen Innes / Point England / Panmure seem to comprise a little blob of Red in a vast sea of East Auckland Blue. Also perhaps (to a somewhat lesser extent) nearby Edgewater in the far west of Williamson’s Pakuranga seat – orange in 2005, light blue in 08 and 11, but that’s in a deeply dark blue seat.
I’ve noticed in my research a few Labour enclaves (surrounded by suburbs as blue as a new tattoo) where turnout seems to have declined markedly. Among the deeply Tory northern suburbs of Whangarei, for instance, is a little oasis of Red – the (presumably state house and strongly maori) little suburb of Otangarei (almost cut off from its inherently Tory neighbours by a bend in the river that surrounds the suburb on three sides). In 2005 Labour won 150 votes out of a total of 213. In 2011 it received 60 out of 114. The Nat vote, meanwhile, barely changed – a grand total of 11 votes in 2005 and 10 votes 2011.
This river you mention: Are you sure it’s not a moat?
at a packed National conference with smiling faces everywhere. National is working for a better New Zealand.
Wait – a “better New Zealand”? Did the “Brighter” one already turn up? For whom?
A pack of jackals at a National Party conference two facedly smiling everywhere working for squeezing themselves the better part of the wealth of New Zealand from the pockets of the working class…
+111
Full of shadowy, shady representatives of the cabinet club there to lean on their puppets in power. Making sure their ‘so called donations’ are repaid ten fold with lucrative political favours.
Nationals 2014 election campaign slogan should be;
“Who pays the piper calls the tune”
Hang about – does that ‘better New Zealand’ refer to one of improving conditions or rather is it poor English for referring to a New Zealand that is good for people who bet – speculators?
Considering National’s political approach that would have to be option b – a New Zealand that advantages speculators.
That might be o.k for those who already have capital (hence the smiles – high on making money on money) – but it is disastrous for the functioning of a healthy society or of any hope of social mobility -i.e. getting out of ruts. The rich get richer the poor get poorer and the middle go backwards under National. Vote left to stop this rort.
FizzyAnus you really should have a day off from The Standard and apply yourself where you’re most needed. At the Crooks’ Convention flogging off FizzyAnus Kits to the insufficiently fizzy anused. Most of whom can be identified by that compulsive tick, that helpless flashing of cocktail party grimaces you call smiles.
Without checking that sounds very much like (a) the denial of the society of the school to a member of that society on the grounds that he has challenged (and won). That MUST be wrong if not actually unlawful, and (2) a public gesture of contempt for Justice Collins’ ruling.
I heard again the song Money Money from Cabaret this morning on Radionz with Liza Minelli and Joel Grey and it is such a sharply satirical clever tuneful song that it would be excellent to have a recording of it that someone should start playing at every NACT gathering before they can throw you out. (Health warning – watch out for Gerry Brownlee, Chief Bouncer but all NACTs would be able at attack positions and feints whether male or female.)
Here is youtube – very good performance by both of them and funny. Money Money
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q
Lyrics
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/l/lizaminnelli20267/moneymoney538511.html
Money…Money
Money makes the world go around
…the world go around
…the world go around.
Money makes the world go around
It makes the world go ’round.
A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound.
Is all that makes the world go around
That clinking, clanking sound…
Can make the world go ’round
If you happen to rich
And you feel like a night’s entertainment
You can pay for a gay escapade.
If you happen to be rich and alone
And you need a companion
You can ring (ting-a-ling) for the maid.
If you happen to be rich
And you find you are left by your lover,
And you moan and you groan quite a lot
You can take it on the chin,
Call a cab and begin to recover
On your 14-karat yacht! WHAT!?
Money makes the world go around….
Of that we both are sure…
rasberry sound on being poor!
Money money money money…
When you haven’t any coal in the stove
And you freeze in the winter
And you curse to the wind at your fate.
When you haven’t any shoes on your feet,
Your coat’s thin as paper,
And you look 30 pounds underweight
When you go to get a word of advice
From the fat little pastor,
He will tell you to love evermore.
But when hunger comes to rap,
rat-a-tat rat-a-tat at the window
knock knock (at the window)
Who’s there? (hunger) oh, hunger!!
See how love flies out the door…
For, money makes the world go around….
The clinking, clanking sound of…
Get a little, get a little
Money money money money…
Mark, a yen, a buck or a pound,
That clinking, clanking, clunking sound,
Is all that makes the world go ’round,
It makes the world go ’round!
That wouldn’t be the bully-thug Gerry Brownlee who bashed up on some really old protestor fulla at some National Party do some years ago ?
I like these songs coming out, thanks – we could fill a whole album 🙂
force a front page rewrite
Key is a craven coward! Happy to dish as much dirt as he can but scuttles away like a cockroach to hide under the nearest log when he is caught out in his lies and smears against people who he deems to be his enemy, then creeps out with a different persona which he uses until the crap that he created dies down. I don’t remember him quoting a figure of $38,000.00. That figure has only just been come to by the mathematical geniuses at nz herald, from alleged information quoting revised figures. He mentioned $15,000.00 for a book that now never gets mentioned. He also said he knew there was a lot more to come, smirk, smirk. Now he says he doesn’t know any details of Liu’s alleged donations and never has. Mr Liu must realise that all this distraction has been engineered by key and his sycophantic invertebrates to discredit Cunliffe as this is the ONLY way he has any chance of winning the next election. Dirty tricks is all he knows.
Key himself proudly announced a little while ago, that he keeps a chunk of dirty tricks material in his top drawer to be unleashed at a later time. An admission like that, coming from a prime minister, is so very shameful. He has tried to make our democracy, politics, way of life pretty mean and dirty.
Plus Matthew Hooton last week spraying a figure of $300,000 that would soon ‘come to light’ around teh internet. Not so much these days.
Fleetstreet Hacks present their new hit-piece single
Tell Them Lies,
take it away guys ……
Each time you turn the page
you swear that we’ve rearranged just a line or two
Close them, close them, close those eyes
But when we find a way
to twist the truth then sure we deceive you too
Tell them, tell them, tell those lies
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
(Tell them lies, tell them, tell them lies)
Read it all it’s between the lines
(we can hide, we can really hide)
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
Although it’s in the plans
I hope that you understand
there’s a reason why
Close them, close them, close those eyes
So much to report on
But we get off making it up
as we go along
Tell them, tell them, tell them lies
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
(Tell them lies, tell them, tell them lies)
Read it all it’s between the lines
(we can hide, we can really hide)
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
-apologies to Fleetwood Mac-
+1 Cool!
Great! Did you come up with this? OK for all and sundry to use as satire?
yup
there was more but some of it was a bit personal
(note: any song satire i put up is my own work unless stated otherwise)
just realised that answer might not be entirely clear…
yes, it is my work, use it however you wish.
I will clearly state when it is not my work
Were my eyes deceiving me today while watching “The Nation”? Tony Ryall was interviewed and was shown to have a decidedly elongated and “pointed” noggin! Was a trick camera being used, maybe stolen from a travelling carnival? I’ve never seen his head look like that before. It was really really strange, we were laughing so much we didn’t hear one word he said – no worries, I’m sure we didn’t miss much! Anyone else see it?
i saw that…!
..i couldn’t stop looking at it…
..he looked like an extra from that cone-head movie…
..and i had an urge to get some little hoops..and see if i could throw them..
..to land on the cone..
..and if he was in a scrum..he cd inflict some serious injuries..
‘my eye..! he poked out my eye with his cone..!’..
wow what a day at National Party conference. good news after good news and plans for even better news if we get three more years.
Well, you’re a demonstrated liar, so you would say that. Repeatedly. Obviously trying to convince yourself of something…
🙄
wow what a day at National Party conference. good news after good news—
Look out fellas—there’s a moron loose on the board.
Right Fis, you should get ten more years, in a maximum security institution for promoting economic and social vandalism…
@fishyanis
you wont get three more years,
two months and then you are goneburger.
byeeeeeee…
You need to add ‘only’ like in;
“If only we get three more years” which after Sept you will be saying;
If only we had gotten three more years.
Chin up chap Christmas is over!
Fisi you need to stop reading that tabloid rag “nz herald” it’s going to end in tears.
“house of cards” kevin spacey reminds me of teflon John
WANT BLAIR GONE AS “PEACE ENVOY”?
HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Friday 27th June 2014 will mark the seventh year that Tony Blair has served as the Quartet Representative to the Middle East. This is an urgent call to end this insult to the region’s people by having him sacked as the so-called “Peace Envoy.”
SEVEN REASONS FOR SEVEN YEARS
To mark the occasion, here are seven reasons to #SackBlair for the seven years he has been in the role.
1) War = Peace?! Tony Blair and George W Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq destroyed an entire Middle Eastern society.
2) Pro-Israeli bias Both as Prime Minister and Envoy, Blair has shown a consistent and blatant bias towards Israel.
3) 7 years bad luck for Palestine The last seven years have shown Blair either incapable or unwilling to achieve anything meaningful for the Palestinian people.
4) Conflict of interest? The way Blair works, it is often unclear where his envoy role ends and his business interests begin.
5) Peace Envoy = Warmonger?! Since his appointment Blair has repeatedly called for yet more Middle Eastern wars – in Iran, Syria and now Iraq again.
6) Living like a V.I.P. – on our V.A.T. As Envoy Blair has luxuriated in Jerusalem’s poshest hotel at the taxpayer’s expense, while families in the Occupied Territories struggle to feed their children.
7) Advising autocrats Alongside his envoy role, Blair has been hiring himself out to tyrants with histories of human rights abuses.
THIS IS OUR TIME
With Tony Blair’s outrageous comments and Iraq in flames across the news, there’s no better time than now to launch this campaign.
Professor Chomsky, British MPs from both major parties and three former UK ambassadors to the Middle East already support our campaign. Now it’s your turn….
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/ban-ki-moon-sack-tony-blair-as-the-middle-east-peace-envoy
+100%. The Guardian has all the gruesome details today of his current conflicts of interest… a crook beyond imagining in fact. Chief fomenter in fact if you follow the dots.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/27/tony-blair-conflict-interests-middle-east
Yep. Even made membership of Parliamentary Labour Friends of Israel compulsory for any Labour MP who wanted to make it to high office back in the late 90s / early-mid zeros.
Astounding that this piece of shit was ever allowed to become leader.
Clean storage: These scientists are making an organic, water-based battery for the power grid
Sounds good. This is the type of innovation we need.
But the secret of their success?
Yep, government funding.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful especially in the home solar panel industry. Some installers suggest having a storage system as well as an overflow back to the grid. But lead batteries? Mmm!
then there is the tofu-model..
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/breakthrough-in-solar-panel-manufacture-promises-cheap-energy-within-a-decade-9563136.html
From Mother Jones a hint that Catholic church rules about birth control and gay marriage etc may be revisited by the Vatican. Probably little would change in Western societies but….
“On Pope Francis’ orders, the Vatican will convene an urgent meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people’s lives….The run-up to the synod has been extraordinary in itself, a departure from usual practice that some say is a mark of the pope’s radical new leadership style, and a canny tactic to defuse dissent over potential reforms.
….Within a few months of his election last year, Francis directed every diocese in the world to survey local attitudes on family and relationships and report back to the Vatican, a canvassing of a sort that few of the faithful can recall previously..
….Taking the public temperature also brings tactical advantages. Nobody at the Vatican will be surprised to learn that vast numbers of Catholics disobey its ban on premarital sex and birth control, or that some are in gay partnerships. Setting down those realities irrefutably on paper, however, could strengthen a bid by Francis to soften the church’s official line and put pressure on bishops inclined to resist, including some in the United States and many in Asia and Africa, conservative areas where the church has been growing….”
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/04/pope-francis-convenes-vatican-synod-family-and-sex
Really good mood at National Party today
lol
So everyone obviously failed to read the memo about overconfidence, then. Not suprising, given that tories are more likely to be morons.
By the way, did you think to ask your colleagues in the research unit for help finding evidence to back up your lie?
who fronted with the mogadons then?
Not surprising. They’re creaming at the expense of the young and the working poor, and getting away with it.
Must be blimming riveting, you seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time reporting on how happy you are. Bet you’re actually bored rigid.
@ fis…
..good quality cocaine..?
..the right just looove cocaine…
..it feeds directly into their omniscience/superiority-fantasies..
Remembering Bobby Womack.
chrs 4 that…
A playlist I’ve been listening to today.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC04E603A7AB23E46
This is a few years old now but still relevant – especially the bit about how selling state assets has left us worse off.
If we want to make our society better then we need to return our economy to full NZ ownership.
“If we want to make our society better then we need to return our economy to full NZ ownership.”
First nz economy has never been in full NZ ownership, so we cannot return to such a place given that we were never there.
Perhaps you could then request say to David Cunliffe tomorrow that as a suggested policy all the funds from nz super, EQC, ACC and other govt investment funds to be solely invested in nz as a start – good luck there.
Did you have anything intelligent to say?
Instead which is increasing in frequently here, when challenged attack those who challenge instead why not put up and justify your position. You made a statement back it up.
Supply-side economics … http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/nq/2014/06/26/
Plutocracy to Idiocracy.
.
A quick refresher: In 1995, after winning a majority in the House for the first time in forty years, one of the first things the new Republican House leadership did was gut Congress’s workforce. They cut the “professional staff” (the lawyers, economists, and investigators who work for committees rather than individual members) by a third. They reduced the “legislative support staff” (the auditors, analysts, and subject-matter experts at the Government Accountability Office [GAO], the Congressional Research Service [CRS], and so on) by a third, too, and killed off the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) entirely. And they fundamentally dismantled the old committee structure, centralizing power in the House speaker’s office and discouraging members and their staff from performing their own policy research. (The Republicans who took over the Senate in 1995 were less draconian, cutting committee staff by about 16 percent and leaving the committee system largely in place.) Today, the GAO and the CRS, which serve both House and Senate, are each operating at about 80 percent of their 1979 capacity. While Senate committee staffs have rebounded somewhat under Democratic control, every single House standing committee had fewer staffers in 2009 than in 1994. Since 2011, with a Tea Party-radicalized GOP back in control of the House, Congress has cut its budget by a whopping 20 percent, a far higher ratio than any other federal agency, leading, predictably, to staff layoffs, hiring and salary freezes, and drooping morale.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaugust_2014/features/the_big_lobotomy050642.php?page=all
there is a cool movie on maori tv @ 7.30..’mt zion’..
..and reggae fans should take note..
Counties boy here, from way back. Saw it when it came out. Captured the people and lifestyle beautifully… and a side of Pukekohe rarely seen. The reggae was cool as too bro
i went to that marley concert..
Just under the surface running through the whole fillim, countless stereotypes of a negative nature, the only thing absent a KFC or Macca’s, along with a whole violin concert of touchy feelies to signify nobility,
Good to see the brown brothers in fillim tho, despite my criticism, the next one on is more topical,but, the thugby is going to interrupt,
Did Bob even visit the Marae out at Puke, i know of one He had a great time at down here, even playing His favorite game wif the kids out on the road well into the night…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-zzVfyTuZg&list=PL89F57A4942857BD1
chrs 4 that link..i hadn’t seen that footage before..
..and i’ll have to send it to my daughter..
..she was three yrs old when i took her to see marley @ western springs…
Dam! Just heard that Peter Fry finishes next Saturday night. What a shame. We have now lost so many announcers that could speak in voices that everyone could understand with a measured pace and without the frenetic pace that announcers are now required to speak. I would be surprised if Peter was wanting top leave more likely the station is determined to remove every trace of intelligent great sounding people.
Only one left as far as I know.
This is a real loss. Peter Fry is a wonderful presenter. Surely he wasn’t forced to leave? If so something is very wrong at RNZ.
Peter Fry’s tone is one of kindness and he takes a genuine interest in the requests, dedications, and messages, often to elderly and sick listeners. A real public service.
Don’t know what happened to “weekend social”, but this is stuff worth noting, Selena, bombastic singer and talent, sadly killed too early by bullets from some acquaintance, or so, years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcF-XQZ_dpA
This was her LAST concert, a friend recommended it, and I find it good, but it is not “revolutionary”, to be honest. But culture and passion deserve recognition, whether revolutionary or less so, enjoy!
A tribute by Jennifer Lopez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOCv6PpqBXo
Reflections and thoughts from a friendly nation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02e_QAUMp8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQqpQzIuAFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiEJaacYjbY
Salvador Allende, murdered by his own soldiers or security services, paid for by the CIA, the murder of a nation, you can say.
Disgusting, it is, what happened in many countries in Latin America, like in Chile, and the people were denied a voice, there with a military raid, we have not got there yet, we are “just manipulated”. But the threat and danger is the SAME, we are seized, corrupted and “bought” by forces of global scale “multinationals”, and their servant power player, one John Key.
It is time for Kiwis to bloody wake up, I mean the wider public, to the corruption, the manipulation and selling out of what this country supposedly stands for. It is a corrupt society here, I have ample information, that reaches even into the levels of supposed “Offices of Parliament”, like the Office of Ombudsmen, the Privacy Commissioner, the Health and Disability Commissioner, they are ALL compromised and CORRUPTED by the system in place.
YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHTS HEARD AND MET under this corrupt system that abounds and rules in this rotten country. You are misled and dumbed down, to believe this is a “democracy” and that this place follows the “rule of law”. NO, learn another thing, this is a lying system, with old boys and girls networks, it is no less corrupt than many countries in Latin America. I know!
I have taken issues to said offices, for myself and others, and they all “strangely” do not even follow natural justice, they use “discretion” to degrees, it is a FARCE, the law applied here. To really get “justice”, you are forced to go to the High Court and swear you pay thousands of dollars if you lose your claim and proceedings. You are “fucked” in this rotten country, and if you believe this is a just” and “honest” society, you are brainwashed and an IDIOT!
Sorry to be so damned blunt, that is NZ Aotearoa RAW, and even Labour will NOT change the truth, that is why I will NOT vote them.
It is time for a damned waking up and a revolution in this docile place, if only some would have the bloody courage, it is a total disgrace, how manipulated and bought this country and society has become under one John Key, a TRAITOR of principles and human values.
Make a damned difference, dear readers, wake the hell up, and vote this bastard OUT, and his gang of corrupt and manipulative self serving business players. Thank you, RIP.
Zombies on the Walls: Why Does So Much New Abstraction Look the Same?
Neo-liberalism and the 1% strike again.
WE are SCREAMING for justice, where is it in NZ Aoteaora???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAjRnM4eLkE
Why is the Left in NZ so damned shy to not shout it out, we want JUSTICE, EQUALITY and WORKERS’ RIGHTS, what is so damned “embarrassing” about all this???
Is there a “left” remaining in this country???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAjRnM4eLkE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfy18_J15rE
Or is this all about the “last fire sale” of what is “left” nailed here???
PASSION, is not found easily, not in NZ, I am afraid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfy18_J15rE
Revolution requires ready minds and souls and bodies, we have NONE of it here, they are mostly easily “bought” for favours, forget it, forget election 2014, it is a LOST game, with lost souls and lost players.
Bah, bah, bah, is the message, commercial advertising is sending the messages, no doubt here, hand over your brain at the counter, you may get a discount for picking it up in a “pickled” state. Best of luck, you do NOT deserve it, lazy brains.
Hi xtasy, Sometimes you write well and sometimes you write.
Repeto, repeto:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAjRnM4eLkE
WHEN DO PEOPLE HERE DAMNED GET IT????
It must be frustrating to see National ride so high in the polls. It must mean people are thick. Wrong.• National values are as follows
Loyalty to our country, its democratic principles and our Sovereign as
Head of State
• National and personal security
• Equal citizenship and equal opportunity
• Individual freedom and choice
• Personal responsibility
• Competitive enterprise and rewards for achievement
• Limited government
• Strong families and caring communities
• Sustainable development of our environment
Now that deserves over 50%.
I took a taxi after the Nat conference and convinced the Somalian taxi driver to change his vote from Labour to National in just ten minutes. Someone has lied to him that national hated the poor.
National do hate the poor. National claiming to have those values is as big a lie as when you said Cunliffe had promised labour would be on more than 40% by the election
Hilarious. The only thing on the list that National are doing is the “limited government” bit, though not the sense of “limited” that you thought of when you typed it. The rest they are either ignoring, or doing the opposite.
@ fisiani
LABOUR’S PRINCIPLES SET OUT MORE CLEARLY than Nat’s abstract sound bite BS:
The Labour Party accepts the following democratic socialist principles:
Now that deserves 100%!
I would like to meet that Somalian taxi driver of yours to see what propaganda, spin, lies and BS you peddled to him in your sound bites in just 10 minutes of the highway ride.
He told me that he would convince his entire extended family to change to the party that is giving him free doctors visits for under 13’s, literacy classes, insulated homes, pensions at 65 and wages rising twice faster than inflation. That’s actually 6 Labour votes now voting National. He pledged his word and we shook on the deal.
Some people will say anything to get a pushy ‘salesman’ type away from their front doorstep. I trust you have just been ‘had’ Fisiani.
You do realise most of those are actually Labour ‘s socialist policies stolen by your RWN job National crooks to fool the gullible, while continuing with their agenda to be the party that really works for the benefit of the wealthy, right?
The usual generalised sound-bites there. I don’t think this government has been for strong families and caring communities at all. This government policy has been to fragment low income families and keep wages low. They’ve said as much in public. It’s “good” for the economy.
You can keep your other statements but don’t try to say low income communities have been supported by this government’s policies.
It’s insulting.