Two things;
• 1. the polling industry is going to be looking rather sick if this period of tory ‘hyper polling’ is well out from the actual results
• 2. help get people enrolled and assist them to vote early from 3-20 Sept. to make sure the polling industry looks sick! You can still enrol people up to the 19th, but don’t wait, do it today.
There is a sad list of reasons for non enrolment including…
• unawareness of the non printed roll for people worried about debt collectors, ex’s, govt. depts etc.
• overcrowded ‘non addresses’–cars & garages, lapsed PO boxes
• transience
• general alienation and non compliance
These are difficult to overcome with an outdated, and under resourced on purpose it seems, electoral commission approach. No rock is left unturned to track down say traffic fine defaulters but every effort is spared in encouraging non enrollees.
Thats why the ‘outreach’ is happening with unions in particular. Once enrolled people will be contacted as voting time nears.
Excellent points. Those four bullet points feature high in low socio-economic groups. Why would people make themselves visible when they are concerned about the repercussions of becoming visible?
According to Electoral Commission documents only the Registrar can view the unpublished roll. Why is this info itself not published more widely one can ask.
So you must jump through more hoops to go on the unpublished roll, and the unpublished roll would perhaps encourage people worried about violent ex-partners, or aggressive debtors.
It doesn’t address the wider problem of the many hundreds of thousands of people for which day to day life is so tough, humiliating, and distracting, especially during the current government’s war-on-the-poor, that any extra attention is to be avoided.
I think the entire electoral roll should be unpublished. That, and the enrolment process getting a good kick up the backside into the 21st century. Might get a bigger turn out on polling day.
If you want to win the lower socio economic groups, you need to appeal to them. Free food, free gifts, people to walk them through the process. It depends upon whether you want to win or not.
Actually, I’m working on a post on this very topic as we speak.
I’ve taken the average % support of the last 10 polls (for all of the parties and blocs) and I’m comparing them with the average for 10 consecutive polls at the same point in 2008 and 2011.
I won’t go into detail here but suffice to say:
– Labour’s average is slightly down on 2011 and wayyyyyyyy down on their 2008 average.
– BUT the Greens are well up on both their 2008 and 2011 average, as are both NZ First and the minor party of the Left (Jim Anderton’s Progressives in 08, the fledgling Mana Party in 11, IMP in 14). Together, their much-improved support share more than compensates for Labour’s decline.
– National and the Right Bloc = well down on 2011 and about equal with 08
– The upshot of it all: This election is looking much more like 2008 than 2011 (and yet the MSM would you believe it’s far, far worse than 11)
– Proviso: Assumes, of course, that Nats and the Right will suffer the same sort of nose-dive that they experienced in both 08 and 11. Tory tr*lls would say “No, they were abberations”, I (and probably Puddleglum and possibly Rob Salmond) would tend toward reluctantly disagreeing with our fine Tory chums.
The trouble with 2008 for ther left is that it was obvious there was a desire to supplant Labour as the main party in government. There is currently not that for the left bloc as a whole.
2008 around the same time before the election would be a more interesting comparison I would suggest. I have found an interesting article on Wikipedia about this.
National had around the same level of support they are getting now with Labour and the Greens trending a bit higher. Even NZ First was getting around the same level of support that they are getting now.
Kind of snap, Gossie, in that we both agree it’s looking much more 08 than 11.
But Labour were doing far better in 08 than now. And Greens were doing far worse.
Overall, whichever way you look at it – gap between National and Lab+Green / gap between Right Bloc and Left Bloc / gap between Right Bloc and Opposition Bloc (Left + Winston) – it’s looking remarkably similar to 2008. (except, of course, Labour down and – crucial, this – NZ First probably going to top 5%).
Individually yes but collectively about the same. It raises a question in my mind though about why the left bloc is not bigger as a whole. 6 years of a National led government should have made the electorate at least more interested in alternatives yet instead we have the same group of left wing supporters seemingly just switching support from Labour to the Greens and not being able to cut in to National party territory or even bring in large numbers of left leaning non-voters..
Poll Date National Labour Green ACT Māori Progressive United Future NZ First Mana Conservative
FOE PREFERRED PM,
On One News-Colmar Brunton, 21 August 2011, 3 months to election, Key=57%, Goff= 8%
On One News-Colmar Brunton, 3 Novembr 2011, 3 weeks to election, Key=56 %, Goff=12%
Election was on 26 Nov, where Nats just scraped through with Banks and with 1 seat (Dunne) majority.
Your comment was:
a. that of someone who has fallen asleep and
b. of the the type that falls into the same-old-same-old-boring-enough-to-send-one-to-sleep category.
In between the propaganda pumped out by the lamestream corporate media about rock star economies et al, just occasionally there is a glimpse through to how tough life really is in NZ.
And that it takes an accountant from chchch doing some OIA’s to begin unravelling the great conjuring trick that is the surplus. Good coverage by SST yesterday
heh – on the hospital food note, a friend had a massive heart attack. Lunch in the ward the next day? Four toasty cheese rolls (a southern delicacy that can be foreign to folks above cook Strait, apparently).
The first law firm i worked for had two major insurance companies as clients. While i didnt work for the insurance litigating partners, but a general litigating partner, our work crossed over.
I worked on heaps of claims and our job was to find anything at all to challenge the right to claim. Then you create a paper war and see how much fight the “customer” has in them. I left law after five years…
I suspect there will be an increase in suicide rates in Christchurch. What is going on down there is unbelievable. Apart from John Campbell the media are practically ignoring Christchurch. Let’s hope the Cantabs play a huge part in voting this government out. Cant imagine they would be voting for the right.
(..and one that ..to me..shows that the rebuild of christchurch has turned into a milking-operation..milking for as long as those currently with their snouts in the trough can get away with..)
..that ‘fact’ is that since the first big earthquake in christchurch..
..china has used/poured more concrete than america used in the whole of the twentieth century..
..let that fact sink in..then ask yrslf again..
..why are people in christchurch still shivering in broken/unrepaired homes..?
..all these years later..and with no end to their miseries in sight..?
..and christchurch central looking like a just-started building-site…
..what degree of incompetent-clowns are running this clusterfuck..?
China has a billion people
NZ has 4.5 million
China has fuck all safety practices
NZ minimum wage and safety requirements
China has heaps of money
NZ has its fiscal head down the back of banks trousers
?..
Only when New Zealand has fully embraced communism will we make repairing the houses of the working class our priority. “Insurers” and their lackeys will be invited to pick our fields. There they will learn the value of hard work.
Comrade Key even now forges unbreakable bonds with Big Brother China. How fortunate we are to have such a benevolent nation willing to guide us through the process of becoming a Communist nation!
possibly, but any increase might well be hidden in displaced persons, i.e. people who lost their chch home and “emigrated” to Wellington or something. They’d turn up in different regional stats.
this article from last year suggests that there was a spike in 2012, but within previous small-numbers variance. On the flipside, it depends on what was going on with the local population (how many had relocated, whether the influx of workers had changed the demographic profile, and so on): a decrease in population might make the spike a significant change.
So short answer “yes, with an if”, long answer “no, with a but”. Real answer “who the fuck knows”.
It’s a deeply shameful thing that we have dollar a day kids in NZ, or 50 cents a day to be more precise. What an insecure and cold world we have created for kids growing up in NZ these days.
When I hear people who have plenty of money complaining about people who don’t and making assumptions as to why they don’t, I ask them, if this problem wasn’t serious and was easily solved by your suggestions (give up fags n booze!) do you really think we would need dollar a day kids in NZ? Usually they don’t know that we now have child sponsorship programmes to match programmes they consider relevant only to “third world” nations.
Indeed Rosie, i have been meaning at some time to comment on the Kids Can ads i have recently seen on my Tee Vee,
At first i thought it was the usual ask for 50 cents a day to support a child in Africa, unfortunately not, Kids Can are asking for support for Kiwi Kids,
The worst aspects of third world economics have definitely become well established here in New Zealand, the poverty i would suggest didn’t arrive as luggage, successive Governments have to carry that can of shame as their actions/inactions have been solely responsible…
I’m pretty sure I read somewhere, Ffloyd, that Labour was very opposed to the closure of Agrisearch.
Just can’t remember which paper I read it in/online ! And closure doesn’t fit well with Labour’s policy on innovation, research, sciences – so I think they’d probably do something about re-opening it.
Or maybe it just shows the biases of Nats doing the selection of candidates?
Given the masculine dominance of the senior position in the Nat caucus, and the anti-women policies – especially the callous bashing of single mothers on benefits – the low proportion of female list candidates is not really surprising.
Women should hardly be forced to sully themselves with the grotesque machinations of modern politics. Never should they have to endure long, drawn out arguments, nor stoop to bother themselves with the lesser task of governing the country.
Course it could be argued, in a society where women are forever getting that systemic grease slathered on ladder rungs, that fewer of them are going to attain a position that would fit with being selected for the party that best reflects said patriarchal society.
On that front, I don’t think affording compensatory traction is any solution. Eventually, if we want an end to all this nonsense, people are going to have to pull or push all the ladders over.
Key is apparently saying McCully will be standing in East Coast Bays. Hopefully that means they are overestimating their actual support (as opposed to the polls) and writing Colin Craycray off.
“squiggle & rort” opportunity should cease after the Electoral Commission’s forms and ballots print date. Even if McCully is pulled at last minute he will appear on the ballot paper.
(n.b..that latter statement is no flight of fancy on my part..it was actually made by craig..while defending his moon-landing denying..the man is fucken ‘barking’..)
or:..’the tooth-fairy..where did it go..?’..let col look for it..!..vote conservative..!
or..’elvis..is he really dead..?’..let col find him..!..vote conservative..!
That is because they know they are getting epsom for act and ohariu for dunne. See how high up the list goldsmith is, and the invisible nat candidate from ohariu. They dont need colin and his bag of something… The cup of tea has been and gone.
Pictured in yesterday’s Granny Herald online, John Banks, the criminal, ‘allegedly’ driving His car at 100k an hour down the Auckland motorway while using His cellphone,
Why isn’t this man,(snigger),obviously showing every sign of being a danger to the public and a serial offender, under constant police surveillance…
Photographed by someone connected to someone in Labour… Was the photographer taking a photo while driving at speed? I am no Banks fan but found the story churlish and a waste of time
That photograph, unless it has been loaded as a mirror image, looks as if Banks was a passenger in the car and the person taking the photo was on the drivers side.
Banks appears, from the shadow on his body to be on the LEFT hand side of the car.
The photographer appears to be on the RIGHT hand side. He could be, conceivably, be in the back seat of course.
The last time I looked the steering wheel in my car was on the right.
Looks like an own goal by a Labour party stooge to me. The person taking the photo looks to be lying.
Yeah, nice try. Your attempt to excuse the criminal John Banks would be a teeny weeny bit more believable if there was an actual alternative driver to be seen. Look at the steering wheel … wheeee, no hands!
Can you see the bottom of the wheel? I certainly can’t. I can only see the top half in that photo and it is quite normal to drive a car with one’s hands on the bottom half of the wheel you know.
Alternatively can you see either of John Banks’ hands? By your logic if one can’t see them they don’t exist. TRP obviously thinks that John doesn’t have any hands.
He must have been a very knowledgeable car enthusiast by the way. I’m prepared to believe he could read the back f the car when he caught up so he could tell it was a C63 AMG model Merc but you would have to be very good to be able to tell it was a 2011 model. Me-thinks he has been obsessed with Banks and follows his life story very closely to know he owns a 2011 model. Could we have a John Banks stalker on the loose?
Yeah, you’re right. It is quite normal to for the driver to have their hands on the bottom of the steering wheel. If they’re a fucken idiot. Still, to back up your story, John Banks has just released a press statement denying he was the driver and, oh, wait a minute … no, no he hasn’t. My mistake.
A sitting MP breaks the law, albeit a minor traffic one in terms of penalties applied and you see this as a waste of time and churlish Tracey,???
SO, have you perhaps a guide you would care to publish with regards to those who govern us that prescribes what criminal acts should or should not be prosecuted when committed by a Member of the Parliament,
(PS, the pic was taken by a passenger in the car opposite)…
Lolz indeed, i had Totally forgotten Banks having fallen on His toothbrush, However, if the link below is to be believed,(i thought the Law outlawing cellphone use was brought into force in 2004),Banks as an MP was directly involved in voting in this particular Legislation which He was pictured (allegedly) ignoring,
The fact is IF what is alleged is found to be fact it would show that Banks is a serial offender using mobile phones in a dangerous manner with callous disregard for the safety of others and that previous leniency at sentencing has not altered Banks’s behavior…
It does re-enforce the public’s perception that Banks is/was a personage of public importance who feels unbound by the laws of the land.
Now, I reckon just about everyone here would have used a cellphone while driving in the last 18 months, or not come to a complete stop at a stop sign, or ducked into a bus lane when we shouldn’t have (all of which carry the same penalty), but we are not/were not personages of public importance.
When we do it, it’s not a story, but when he does it, it is.
Nope, i plead not guilty, i have never, while the driver of a vehicle used a mobile phone while the vehicle is in motion,
In fact, unless i know that the phone will be necessary to use as a tool when i get to my destination it stays at home,
i do not see anything of such importance occurring in the time it takes to get from A to B that necessitates carrying such a tracking device on my person at the times i am on the roam…
And you set a fine example. I tend to lose work if I don’t answer, or call back asap at least (I do pull over to do this of course). Food on the table, etc.
So get yourself a hands free set Weepu’s beard. There’ll be no food on the table if you end up dead because you decide to take a call changing lanes at 100kph on the motorway. Think about it.
“Now, I reckon just about everyone here would have used a cellphone while driving in the last 18 months……….”
Hell no Weepus beard! Not using your cell phone while driving is law for good reason. It is highly distracting and very dangerous. People have lost their lives because of stupid irresponsible fuckers using their phones, texting or talking.
No matter who does it IS important, whether it’s Banks or you. Anyone can take another’s life by being an idiot and using their phone while driving.
Why do we have this careless “road rules are made to be broken” attitude in our country? Like our approach to H&S in the workplace, we sure do have some serious “she’ll be right” perceptions to correct.
If we want iphones and ipads Nick Smith says we must have poorer water quality.
“Association of Freshwater Anglers president David Haynes, who was at the meeting, said Dr Smith was bullying the Fish and Game councillors in a clear attempt to stop it carrying out its statutory role to advocate for water quality.”
“He said the minister indicated he wanted to “tweak” Fish and Game because its advocacy for clean rivers was standing in the way of economic growth.”
I can never think of Mike Hoskings apart from being the “fruit and vege man”…he used to report early morning on the quality and quantity of fruit and veges in the market…He was very good!…i was almost persuaded to eat more fruit and veges
we have been ‘at war’ since clark/goff signed us up for the invasion/occupation of afghanistan..
..we are eager spear-carriers in americas’ long-war…
(this has long been our role/place in the world..first for britain..and now for america..)
..and we are now a vassal-state of america..(as we were once a vassal-state for britain..until they told us to just piss-off!..(what world wars sacrifices..?..)
..and as the snowden/greenwald/dotcom data/secrets-drop will clearly show..
..that is how they view/treat us..
..any ideas of our sovereignty as a nation are just a joke..to america..
Not even a link for that statement, Philip?
If you can’t find a parliamentary edict, “We have been at war” should still have made the headlines somewhere.
…at least Helen Clark kept New Zealand out of the false trumped up war against Iraq and gave short shift to the Israelis who tried to steal the passports of dead New Zealand children…i think she made enemies for these actions
The inter-tribal fighting of semites should hardly concern us. The children of Isaac and Ishmael need to sort out their issues. They seem to have problems with Loving their Neighbour.
Let them go and fight. The military experience they gain overseas will be vital to the improvement of our forces back home, if they return.
Of course, those returning home, harbouring desires of insurrection against our legally appointed government ought to face the scaffold or the firing squad.
Bryce Johnson Chief Executive of Fish and Game has just said on Nine to Noon that Nick Smith’s attack on Fish and Game has done irreparable damage to the relationship between F and G and the minister.
I loved the tweet at the end of Morning Report that said something like “I’m going to tell all my friends to throw away their fishing rods and buy tablets and laptops so they can have some real fun”*
*This was in reference to Smith saying at a recent F and G meeting he was invited to that F and G’s stance on supporting clean lakes and rivers was damaging economic growth
The interviews of F and G people on Morning Report before 8am and then Smith in poor effort at damage control after 8am well worth a listen.
Typical of National Party people – all about the money and “winning”. It doesn’t matter if you have to lie and cheat, or shit in the rivers, just as long as you “win”
What a loser Nick Smith is.
and yep – lets play on laptops and iphones rather than swim and fish in rivers. Nick Smith describes his view of life.
He has in fact inadvertently just laid out a catch-phrase in the war on farming greed. “What do you want for your children? Laptops and iphones, or swimming and fishing in rivers? This is the choice Nick Smith gives you”
I can see why Smith packed such an insincere howly-bag over it. His bullying arrogance is very damaging to the National vote among the outdoorsy types. I expect they’ll move more to the Greens than Labour.
The Children of Tomorrow will receive their orders on iPads and Tablets.
These orders will of course include the cleaning of our rivers, the repopulating of our fish, and the reporting to the Authorities of the Environmental Despoilers that would damage the Green Earth God gave us. The same despoilers that run amok at this very moment, comrades.
He states that he has been working for clean water pretty much his entire career…. so how is the result then Nick Smith? Looks like you have spectacularly failed doesn’t it.
xox
Nick Smith told me in a public meeting on transport issues that cyclists don’t get considered in policy as they don’t pay road user tax! Stand up comedy awaits you Nick.
Some things hotting up this morning. On Radionz Dr Nick Smith and Fish and Game. What a mendacious character Nick Smith is. Threatening, bullying, crowing about being responsible for water for six years and working hard, which raises the question why is it still so bad. Warning Fish and Game to be smarter themselves and stick to fresh water advocacy and not say anything about causes of pollution, ie dairy. Being careful with words, not mentioning pollution. F&G have put up billboards about water quality.
The government doesn’t like any entity that it funds to do any advocacy, it is out for social causes now the environmental ones are being told how to do their job set under legislation. Nick Smith mentioned that he was likely to tweak the legislation under which F&G operate, but says its about a number of matters such as the ability to get licences using technology etc. Observers at the meeting said it actually sounded like a threat to diminish F&Gs role and freedom to operate as at present and probably their funding.
And Smith disagreed with that understanding. He denied that intention and quoted the authority of a ‘neutral’ civil servant who took notes on the meeting that differ from accusations about what he said. And he is going to sue the critics for misrepresenting him.
Also this morning, scientists criticising the way that the government is trying to direct science in exactly the way that suits the sitting government’s interests. Which scientists say will be incredibly limiting on the range and options for them. No they are not says also slimy Joyce.
And tourist drones introduced, offering free pics to tourists which it is stated will be a way of getting our lovely scenery to the golden masses overseas. And a good way of providing and spying options seducing people that they are great. And invasive they will be, because there is so much enthusiasm for them from business and people who love tech. They are going to be used extensively in agriculture as the robotised farm replaces our people-run, human populated major industry. Our laissez faire government won’t properly control them and limit them to surveying dangerous areas where robotised machinery comes into its own.
And criticism of tech in schools, expensive additions for little cost-benefit.
Life is never dull. Subtle ancient curse is ‘May you live in interesting times’.
@ Bearded Git 9.38
I just remembered that Old Nick referred to his NACT government being ‘blue-green’. So you are wrong to say that he has been green-washing and he may sue you for that.
The actual name of the shade is cyan which is used in cyanide and that is what NZ will receive if they allow NACTs back into government. (This assertion is entirely unsubstantiated and unchecked for fact, ie political.) e&oe /sarc
Matthew Hooton saying how volatile Nick Smith and he has a PHd in geology or something which is to study rocks. Perhaps he should study his head! Then says that its okay to have pollution because that happens to all countries as they industrialise but then they get wealthy and can clean up!!!! Just about fell off my chair.
First we haven’t industrialised? If we didn’t, haven’t it’s too late now the way that NACTs are running the country backwards to agricultural dependencey. (Can someone rewind that film before they have the next showing!) And we are never going to get wealthy, again because of how the country and its finances are run, so we can never clean up. Publicly we should have minimum taxes if the NACTs have their way and there will not be enough for reparations to the environment, and privately the wealthy will just shift their interest and money to a nicer environment, personally and pursely.
Cunliffe’s incompetence and poor old Shearer never got a fair go and was polling better from Hooton. The Wormtongue.
Mike Williams says that there is a risk for the government which can appear arrogant.
And that goes for Nick Smith too.
The article about fudging numbers to get a surplus will raise the eyebrows of a fewxless than die hard right voters who vote national cos of how they are perceived to be handling the economy
54 men and 21 women in the Nats list-not a good look. The Nats chairman argues that democracy meant there were so few women on the list. Female voters take note. See:
the dirty filthy Herald runs a puff piece on a dead Israeli soldier because of his “Kiwi” links, well what about a story on thousands of dead, injured and de housed Palestinian civilians who also have links–to the HUMAN RACE? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11300048
The same Palestinians that fed their children vile television programs and propaganda, stories of revenge and recapturing of a land lost.
Side not with either of the Semitic tribes, friends. They will sort out their issues in time. The sons of Ishmael, the disparate lot that they are need to learn the value of unity. The Esteemed brothers of the Ummah even now gather their people, and purge the ranks of Wreckers and Obstructionists. If only we were as brave, as committed to the future of our people as they.
The sons of Issac have abandoned their Torah, and the God that feeds them. Leave the re-education of the sons of Issac to ISIS. Any of you who know of the defiling of the Daughters of Israel – the scantily clad IDF photos, the “Dead Sea Salt” girls that infest our malls, will know some Sharia Law will do them good.
We must save our energy for the repair of our own broken country and people.
“Leave the re-education of the sons of Issac to ISIS. Any of you who know of the defiling of the Daughters of Israel – the scantily clad IDF photos, the “Dead Sea Salt” girls that infest our malls, will know some Sharia Law will do them good.”
I think Israel has the right to defend itself against rocket attacks and tunnels infiltrating its terrirotry. Hamas are no sweeties.
It is unfortunate that there a civilian casualties but that is what occurs in urban battle fields and with the destabilising global population explosion and megapolises we are going to see a lot more of it.
Meanwhile ISIS is literally CRUCIFYING prisoners of war or BEHEADING them and putting their heads on sticks or with a head in each hand and big toothy smiles for photos. Yet there is no Left march down Queen St expressing condemnation of these atrocities or burning ISIS flags or demanding the world do more to stop them.
Tom’s point stands. You lied about what he’d said, then you pretended your lie was true, then you acted all morally outraged. It’s transparent and tiresome and we get it a lot around here.
I doubt even the Israelis have sunk so low they’re prepared to use ISIL as some sort of ethical benchmark, but not you.
Tom obviously doesn’t think Israel should move against Hamas to destroy their tunnels and rocket attacks. therefore he is defending the actions of Hamas, he certainly has taken the ample opportunity to condemn Hamas actions against Israel civilians.
Again ISIS is way more problematic but it seems the West can’t even face it.
Off you go then, organise a march against ISIS. Every Hasbara troll from both sewers will no doubt join you. Before you demand that we do something, you really need to be doing something yourself. Moran.
Leave the re-education of the Wicked Israelis to the Esteemed Brothers of the Muslim Ummah.
Jews have always done better within Muslim Majority countries. I fear their exposure to the ways of the Imperialist Crusaders has tainted them. Lets hope it is not irreversible.
Only our friends in ISIS have the necessary fortitude and perseverance to cover the Holy Land in the safety of Sharia, and return the Jews to their God and the Torah of Moses.
When I see fighting dogs, I leave them to it, like the mongrels they are.
That and wait for a victor then kick seven bells out of it for disturbing the peace.
Keep your brotherhood in arms bullshit to yourself, funny man.
Unbeaten and never had to threaten women and girls with inhuman sharia law.
Not only does that make me hard as fuck, but a step up, or several, on what passes as a bloke from the cowardly shit stinking hole you crawled out from.
Now unless you have something worthwhile for me, do one.
“Leave the re-education of the sons of Issac to ISIS. Any of you who know of the defiling of the Daughters of Israel – the scantily clad IDF photos, the “Dead Sea Salt” girls that infest our malls, will know some Sharia Law will do them good.”
And I replied
“and never had to threaten women and girls with inhuman sharia law.”
Nothing phobic about that, it’s a realism. The cowardly shit bit, just icing on the cake.
Religious nutjobs (of whatever persuasion) never see the wood for the trees – They’re too busy making crosses to crucify themselves or stoking fires to burn martyrs.
Our Glorious Leader, John Key, is both a Committed Communist and Christian.
He is concerned of course with Gaza, and has said a two state solution is the ideal answer.
But do you think the wicked of either side will accept this?
No, they will not, and they will continue to kill women and children. These Demons will continue to sacrifice Children to Molech, which the God of Abraham, the God of the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims abhores. Canaanites, hiding amongst the Israelis and Palestinians.
Our Leader knows the only way for them to live side by side would be for a strict discipline to be brought down on both states. A embracing theology that did not allow one to harm the other. An Abrahamic religion that prevented the sacrifice of children.
The Ummah. The Body of Islam.
Our leader is not a foolish Crusader who seeks to impose Western Imperialism on the Holy Land. Liberal Democracy, that tool of the Capitalist Exploiter, our leader knows is stepped in the blood of Children.
Western Imperialism must end. Put down the Cross, comrade. Love is not enough for our brothers in the Middle East. They need Law.
If the material isn’t funny, the crowd’s not buying into it and you see tumbleweeds blowing across the stage – Don’t make eye contact, sideways shuffle stage right and hope nobody got it on camera phone.
“Such rudeness”
I’ll be sure to pass on your sensitivity to those dead sea salt girls you want to be left to isis to sort out. Double standards, I shit ’em. Tardo.
Biggest laugh is your use of Bourgeoisie. If it’s to be a put down, it has to believable to be effective.
This certainly doesn’t describe me, not even close.
“the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.”
” the capitalist class who own most of society’s wealth and means of production”
Now sort your shit out and work out how to maximise an angle of attack that not only scores on a direct hit, but cuts at tangents to the main target for maximum effect.
I don’t think you have it in you, but set goals and you never know.
It appears that the wise leaders of this board do not censor personal attacks. It appears they let anarchy, and thus the most abusive reign.
You obviously don’t care that the Daughters of Israel are allowed to debase both their military, or themselves, with lewdess, or themselves by washing the unclean hands of foreigners.
To you this is glorious “Liberty”.
—
Leviticus 19:29
Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.
—
You no doubt are yet another Anti Semite, that rejoices in the destruction of Israel.
“It appears that the wise leaders of this board do not censor personal attacks. It appears they let anarchy, and thus the most abusive reign.
I leave you to your small kingdom.”
You had a good run as far as offensive pish goes. Channeling honour killings, subjugation and abusive treatment of women and the like. Dry your eyes bruv.
But to be fair, if you go on like that in public, especially around centered, balanced New Zealanders, I bet you’re well use to personal attacks, it’s a bit unfair to single me out.
One can be both Anti Semitic and Anti Muslim. A White Supremacist may hold both views. Not that you are, please don’t get upset by this comment, I give this only as an example.
The two religions are far more similar than most people think. Both prescribe stoning of adulterers and sodomites. Both prescribe the whipping of whores and fornicators.
Your repulsion, and outright rejection of Islam as a solution to a seeming impasse, and periodic slaughter of children is sad. If the Jews will not obey their God, then surely Islam is a close second.
Atheists are never much fun to talk to. I do appreciate now though that you have reduced your vitriol, and begun to argue.
If you think the answer is sharia law, and the women of israel and palestine paying a disproportionate price for peace, then you are asking the wrong question.
But ultimately, you as contributor, are damned to me by comments made about homosexuality and calling it a perversion to minors.
How can I take you seriously when you are so flawed? That’s rhetorical by the way.
Our queen has only just made a shaky peace with the Catholics. To cause grief on behalf of Mother England would be a terrible, and treasonous thing to do.
There’s enough fighting going on already.
With an exceptionally skewed kill ratio: one side had multiple city blocks tunred into rubble and hundreds of deaths, the other side makes it a spectator sport.
Mike, you might want to try and disguise all of this with a series of unneeded punctuation marks of various character, your efforts so far tonight make Phillip’s daily contribution look like the musings of one touched by God, as opposed to simply being touched in the head which is the impression you are generating…
Perhaps you are correct bad12 on the legality of my comment. I take that comment back, the one suggesting Al1en go and fight. My personal dislike of this poster got the better of my judgement.
I stick with our Leader, John Key, and his decision that we do not involve ourselves. I appologise Al1en, you were correct to Respect the wishes of our leader, and I was wrong to challenge him.
Our Leader has wisely pledged $250,000 to help the Palestinian cause.
Only on the internet may I profess my affection for Communism. In this politically correct society, guardians of licentiousness, the “Right” and “Left” wing would never allow such discussion.
Sadly, as Cam Slater is the Guardian of the right, it appears there are plenty willing to do so for the Left.
Communists should always be gracious in defeat, so I leave you both with this.
If not Islam, what kind of strict moral code, preventing Hate Speech and hateful education would allow the Israeli’s and Palestinians to live side by side? Who could administer this law so that these seemingly eternal hatreds can be put to rest?
Perhaps the United Nations could create for them both a legal code. A strict code preventing any dissemination of hatred for the other side, and enforced tolerance for each other.
The Jewish Bible and the Koran both insist upon eradication of the other. Thus, peace is never going to be possible.
It does not need to be Islam that be the moral code that they share, but it needs to be strict.
That Mike has all the gravitas of a fully inflated balloon, its neck held in such a fashion so as to recreate an elongated representation of flatulence,
Had you not made the series of previous comments that are exhibited here tonight the comment may have held its argument to be valid,
Read in conjunction as the finale to the series tho it is in fact an even bigger piss take,(off you go now for a communion with Cam-puke),
i would suggest re: the State of Israel that an exodus of a Biblical scale will, when the Shia and Sunni have finally settled that particular blood feud, be the ultimate result,
The US are, as is the House of Saud, aware of this little nicety which is why they keep all sides in the conflict armed, albeit with glaring disparities…
An interview with Yuval Diskin, a former Shin Bet head. He isn’t hopeful and makes it clear who he thinks is responsible for the ongoing situation.
But Netanyahu has made the invocation of an existential threat from Iran into his mantra, it is almost messianic. And of course he has derived political profit from it. It is much easier to create consensus about the Iranian existential threat than about an agreement with the Palestinians. Because there, Netanyahu has a problem with his electorate.
[…]
There are plenty of people within Shin Bet, Mossad and the army who think like I do. But in another five years, we will be very lonely people. Because the number of religious Zionists in positions of political power and in the military is continually growing
the rapid deterioration we’re experiencing in the security situation did not come because of the vile murder of Naftali, Eyal and Gil-Ad, may their memories be blessed. The deterioration is first and foremost a result of the illusion that the government’s inaction on every front can actually freeze the situation in place, the illusion that “price tag” is simply a few slogans on the wall and not pure racism, the illusion that everything can be solved with a little more force, the illusion that the Palestinians will accept everything that’s done in the West Bank and won’t respond despite the rage and frustration and the worsening economic situation, the illusion that the international community won’t impose sanctions on us, that the Arab citizens of Israel won’t take to the streets at the end of the day because of the lack of care for their problems, and that the Israeli public will continue submissively to accept the government’s helplessness in dealing with the social gaps that its policies have created and are worsening, while corruption continues to poison everything good, and so on and so on.
Problem is the Palestinians and Arabs are breeding at a far greater rate than Israeli Jews, just take a look at all the footage coming out of Gaza, kids all over the place. Maybe if the Israelis dropped free contraception instead of bombs they might achieve more for Israeli security in the long run?
Gaza is a walled in ghetto where indigenous natives are surrounded by razor wire, mines and occupation force guard posts controlling all entry points and exit points.
Not a good look for the Jewish state which once upon a time vowed “never again.”
Jews are not Arabs, they share Semitic ancestory with some of them. Definitely would not call them “fellows”.
And there are actual Israeli Arabs, they get to vote but otherwise seem like 2nd class citizens, population wise they are growing at a faster rate than Israeli Jews.
If Israel want Gazans to have fewer children, the formula is easy. Improve their living circumstances instead of bombing their infrastructure back to the stone age, let them have jobs and an economy instead of 40% unemployment and a near total embargo, support their education instead of shelling their schools and universities.
@Allen
It’s very hard to leave devils that spread muck on line, alone. But why encourage Mike Allen? Nobody replying to their diseased-mind utterances is an effective rebuttal. Why not try it instead of relighting the touchpaper on the rocket? I
t makes me sick to read the crap coming out of some of these people’s minds. It shouldn’t be encouraged once it is recognised for the crazy mix of slogans, racism, vilification and hate transference that is being spouted. It’s as unpleasant to read as vomit is to smell and impossible to completely clean – the memory remains.
From my wireless, RadioNZ Natioanl News @ 10.00am, Did i here that right???, Slippery the Prime Minister is said to have confirmed that Murray McCully will not be pulled from the East Coast Bays electorate in favor of Colon the Conservative,
Slippery himself didn’t speak to the piece on the wireless, but, Colon the Conservative was heard bizarrely going wah wah Wah, finishing with a nah,nah,nah,nah nah in the form of ”there were more people at His latest meeting than one held by David Cunliffe somewhere”,
Disappointing really i would have expected Colon to, after having been thwarted in such a fashion, to have declared Jihad or a new Holy War,
Instead what pretty much appears to have been the death notice for the electoral chances of the Conservatives issued by Slippery the PM resulted in a series of dull whines from Craig…
The NZHerald online version confirms the above, aah it’s so great to smell the stench of Colon Craig’s burning millions,(how many million has the plonker wasted so far, 1, 2, 3, 4, million dollars all for nothing, that must be totally Gutting and my attempts to not Laugh out Loud have become an exercise in futility)…
Exactly the same thing will happen to the fat German when he is extradited.
[lprent: Pre-guessing court verdicts is a very bad idea for many reasons.
Expressing them as an assertion is just outright stupidity because what you are effectively doing is to tell a judge what they should do – something that you are clearly incompetent to do. But it is also bad news in many ways. One of them is that I don’t want judges getting pissed off with this site.
If you want to make such assertions then you should express them as your opinion and ideally to explain why you hold that opinion. Never ever demand what a judge will do.
Banned three weeks – one each for stupidity, endangering this site, and bone idle laziness. You should use the time to find out more about how the judiciary actually operates here. ]
So wishful thinking based on LH involvement, that’s fair enough, but when kdc is extradited and the courts come looking for his loot as compensation, it may not be the end to the dream you’re looking for.
Optimistic doesn’t come in to it, it’s the reality of the situation, of why kdc is so heavily ‘invested’ in NZ politics right now.
If you believe the gift to the nation guff, then that trumps my realism any day.
“A crystal ball you have.
It wasn’t a gift to the nation it was a calculated attack on the National Party.”
There is a recent report where it is stated his gift was to the people of NZ. No crystal balls needed, but google will help find it. Are you saying kdc is a liar and a vindictive schemer?
“I don’t think much of your ‘realism’.”
I don’t expect you too. Al1en I may be, but rooted firmly on planet Terra I am.
I’m operating under the assumption that the courts will order his extradition – although that’s by no means a certainty – and I’m idly curious as to which National Party justice minister could make the call without immediate judicial review of their massive conflict of interest.
How about the court saying
‘you have not followed all of our rulings ( re the return of data)
When the court rulings are obeyed we will consider the extradition”
Not necessarily Alien, my understanding of the status of the charges DotCom faces are that the copyright allegations have been ‘stayed’ by the US Court,
As the other charges, Racketeering etc, rely upon the proving of the original allegations of copyright infringement i fail to see how a Court in New Zealand can do anything but dismiss the extradition request from the US, or, likewise ‘stay’ such a request until such time the US proves to the Court here in New Zealand that a prima- facie case exists to support the Racketeering/Money Laundering allegations,
Without having an actual ‘live’ case to support the original copyright infringements i would suggest makes the above impossible as charges of Racketeering/Money Laundering must by definition derive from some other illegal/illicit action…
Mega has loads of copyrighted material for illegal download right now.
Make the most of it while you can, it won’t last.
I could, but won’t, provide links as proof. I don’t want to appear in court as the star witness that took down kdc.
1% of the voting population would never forgive me.
i think you are mistaken in that you describe what you see as copyrighted material as being ”Mega’s”,
It is a fact is it not, that the ‘individuals’ who pay Mega for the right to store material have the legal possession of it,
The same legal niceties can be seen in the operation of any physical storage facility, the owners of such are not responsible for everything stored at such a facility,(unless they knowingly allow illegal items to be stored),
Should those who hold copyright over material stored at the Mega site provide a request along with proof of copyright that such material be removed then i would suggest if such a request were refused a case could be made that Mega were facilitating the use of copyrighted materials to the detriment of those who hold the copyright…
Alien, a microscope would have been needed to split that particular hair, the difference between paying and not paying to ‘store’ stuff at Mega having no particular bearing on the discussion,
My point being that Mega, as is the case for every other storage facility of the genre, simply provides a storage facility and what users of that facility choose to store there is cannot make Mega culpable unless, as i state above, Mega has been advised of copyrighted material being used/stored at Mega and refuses to remove it,
There is a legal argument that could be made that whomever owns the copyright should be pursuing the person(s) who store the material and not the storage facility,(Mega)…
Please note that wealthy people are still buying McLaren, Zonda, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, Maybach, Rolls-Royce etc in fact sales have shot up 80% in the last few years. But when we are talking about the working class and cars for like 10, 15, 20 and 25 grand the story is different…very different.
I always liked reading Finkelstein over the years, sticking it to the US pro Israeli crowd. But I feel more ambiguous towards the Israel/Palestine issue these days.
Snow states the average age in Gaza is 17. So why are the Palestinians having crazy numbers of kids when their circumstances are already bloody dangerous and miserable. Is it a deliberate ploy to overwhelm the enemy via a population explosion?
I am very pessimistic about the entire Middle East. Probably about the most nightmarish scenario is taking place right now with ISIS establishing a caliphate and decorating it with crucifixions and beheadings.
I think that maybe Israel is “cleaning house” and getting ready for ISIS which already has 35% of Syria and news every day it has sized more. Will virtually all of Syria besides Damascus fall into ISIS control?
Everyone was waiting for ISIS to attack Baghdad, instead they took all the top notch firepower left when the Iraq army fled and turned again to take Syria – which is probably a way better strategic plan. ISIS are lethal because they are excellent strategists and fanatical. Who would want to go into battle against men who play with decapitated heads during their morning tea break?
Israel clearing out Hamas and debilitating the Palestinian Authority will open the perfect space for something ISIS-like to arise. Even the US military has said so.
Possibly, but if Israel got the wiff of an ISIS like element ( maybe they already see Hamas like that? ) then they will turn Gaza to dust – and we all know they have the fire power to do it.
The reality is Israel does not want a Palestinian state or Palestinian anything, I think one Israeli politico said the Palestinain could live like dogs until they left.
Maybe international sanctions would work to make the Israelis hold off, the boycott seems to be getting stronger. I guess the idea is a South Africa style demise. Probably the only thing that will make the Israelis back down would be a withdrawal of USA support.
Personally I am glad NZ is far away from the ME shit storm and like most NZers are not amused by Muslim immigrants burning Israeli or US flags on our streets.
@ silverbullet 1.10
Don’t be so painfully thoughtless – can’t you understand human nature at all. The Palestinians probably haven’t or aren’t allowed to use, condoms. They live in severely deprived circumstances where they haven’t much to comfort them. Both Jewish and Muslim religions seem to be patriarchal and male dominated, though the Jewish seem to have become more gender integrated for rights. Having sex daily may be part of the male expectation in these societies, or so I have heard. Births are bound to rise in these circumstances.
@ Chooky 7.11
Have you read Souad the story of a Muslim woman. I’d be interested in your opinions about it. And one man who actually isn’t living in Palestine might be thinking and behaving differently to those incarcerated in that Israeli prison.
Have you read the critiques of this book?…How true is it exactly?…repressed memory?…horrific burns with no documented evidence? I am not saying crimes against women don’t happen against Palestinian women…. just as they do elsewhere in the world eg India, New Zealand ,Ireland , New York, Israel…but is this one true or is it propaganda?
@ Chooky 10.31
I have accepted it on face value because Souad was helped by an outside group to escape and receive treatment. That group may itself be a falsehood. Because I know that there is very bad treatment of women in a number of countries with old traditional male-dominated class-stratified practices, I did not think of doubting it. I will follow up your links thanks.
It doesn’t change my point as to why the Palestinians should not be criticised for having rising births while in the midst of chaos and cruelty by a vengeful, malicious, dirty-dealing Israeli army government.
Palestinians try to carry on their lives and through continuing to have sex and babies, declare that they are people and defy the Israelis desire for them to go away or be extinguished, leaving their land for occupation.
The Israelis would have to gas them as the Nasties did to them in Germany to get rid of them. The Jewish people would then have had revenge, and gained precious and historical land and perhaps stronger borders against the growing hatred of the Muslim people which they have largely fostered themselves. I do not think that will make happy and satisfied. Indeed if they destroyed Palestine and Palestinians they never could. The shame and infamy would hang over them for ever.
I wonder if they then would ever be able to recover their own souls, after revenging the souls of those poor suffering Jewish prisoners killed so industrially and industriously while Germany went through its own period of madness and psychopathy. It’s a vicious circle that Jews do not seem to recognise. The Israelis are creating and shaping themselves with their own hands and actions, into the style of the images and thoughts expressed in the disgusting propaganda put out against Jews by the Nasties prior to and during WW2.
The Alliance Party wants to remind people that it is ok to care. It is ok to want the best, to believe anything is possible, and to believe that New Zealand – and the world on large-scale – is able to be changed for the better. At the risk of stating the obvious, an election would seem like the ideal time to focus on this – for both politicians and voters.
Instead we’re getting out of context attacks on apologies and bunkum on red scarves.
So school vouchers do produce better outcomes – if you cheat.
/
It’s the darker side of competition that Milton Friedman and his free-market disciples tend to downplay: If parents value high test scores, you can compete for voucher dollars by hiring better teachers and providing a better education—or by going easy in grading national tests. Competition was also meant to discipline government schools by forcing them to up their game to maintain their enrollments, but it may have instead led to a race to the bottom as they too started grading generously to keep their students.
Citing diplomats in Brussels, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Berlin objects to clauses outlining the legal protection offered to firms investing in the 28-member bloc. Critics say they could allow investors to stop or reverse laws.
Are any of our politicians able to do the same with regards to the TPPA?
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it. By the time that the funding starts decreasing there won’t be any more building of roads as the cost of driving will be going through the roof and even the RWNJs will start realising how much of a white elephant the Roads of National’s Significance were (They will, of course, blame Labour).
I think SH1 should be upgraded to a dual carriage way like the Auckland Northern Gateway, from Kaitia to Invercargill, plus laterals to provincial centers like New Plymouth and Napier. That’s the kind of transport system a 1st world country has.
@ colonial viper
I don’t see why there won’t be lots of bikes and bikes-with tow trailer on them.
Motor scooters bikes with electric drive and chargeing batteries while riding etc. It will be busy as…
@silver bullet
A 1st world country? What’s that and where? When you pull off the wrappings of all the 1st world class propaganda, underneath is something pulsing and oozing.
There is something shoddy in the state of Mythmania perhaps more like Gormenghast.
You need to drop the “class” rhetoric, god forbid Cunliffe starts talking “class war” on the leaders debate, Hoskins would have a field day, lol.
Take a look at China and the massive transport infrastructure it has/is building. They understand the need for a high quality transport system to increase standard of living. Of course there are issues of peak oil/peak everything. A report by a scientist claims that Los Angeles can go solar,wind,thermal and tidal power by 2050 and thrive. But maybe the mega drought will get them first?
Cunliffe shouldn’t be talking “class war” at the TV debates, correct. Simple allusions and metaphors around class war will be enough to get the message across.
Woodhouse is not going up against Curran. Rather, he is again standing in Dunedin North against Clark – which may be a close run contest if Turei appeals to a lot of erstwhile Labour voters. It’s Hamish Walker in Dunedin South, here’s the Nat press release that Scoop has on him:
born-and-bred Dunedinite… moved to Auckland, completed a degree in accountancy, and in 2012 started his own property management business, which is now being franchised… rugby referee… “I will be a strong and passionate voice in John Key’s National Party”
Should not all passengers within the outward bound terminal have to be cleared, as if something untoward was passed on then this could be to a passenger on another flight to another destination ?
Forgot to include this should also cover all workers that had been cleared to work in the area. The more I think about it, this breach should have had major extensive implications. If the authorities had acted accordingly think of the disruptions that should have resulted, I would imagine that flights out of Chch would have been delayed for many hours as the authorities reacted as they should have to this security breach. Even if Brownlee gets charged IMO he has been lightly let off.
This as a result of a thoughtless act “He said he did not give it any thought, but has now apologised unreservedly for the action.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11298499
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/250676/highway-%27lacks-economic-analysis%27
Northland businesses are agitating for money to be spent on their minor roads, which are major roads to them. The recent floods showed how unsatisfactory this is. Fonterra couldn’t collect from 200 farms. They are desperate and it may be that old Nat John Carter might have some arm twisting abilities. Something needs to be done. The bloody smart road to Puhoi can wait. The north has always been neglected compared to rest of NZ. http://transportblog.co.nz/tag/puhoi-wellsford-motorway/
Radionz news –
Northland leaders say huge spend needed on roads ( 3′ 18″ )
17:40 Northland councils and businesses are calling for major spending on the region’s roads.
Mazzucato, in a paper with LSE professor Carlota Perez, points out the danger of leaving tech to the private sector. In an economy bloated with printed money and cheap credit, if capital can’t find real-world, high-growth, high-profit opportunities to invest in, it will pool into the finance system, creating one bubble after another.
And when you throw in the fact that it’s the private banks creating the money it gets even worse.
If the proponents of modern laissez-faire economics could point to a single economy where technology and markets had worked, alone, to create a vibrant, confident, high-growth economic model, their arguments would be stronger. But it’s China, Singapore, South Korea and Brazil where the success stories happened. The state was at the centre of every one.
It is, and always has been, the state that produces an ever improving society. The privatised free-market does the exact opposite as we see in the growing inequality and poverty of the last thirty years.
Winston should go stand in Epsom. That would really f*ck the Nats up.
Can’t for the life of me imagine why anyone would vote for hairpiece. Time for a change isn’t it, Karori? Isn’t it? This is the guy who texted Andrea Vance 30 times a day. This is the guy who refused to make legal highs illegal because his son acted for the industry. This is the revenue minister. Has anyone tried dealing with the IRD in a 21st century way? It’s not pretty.
A Hong Kong woman has been found guilty of being involved in importing amphetamine. She has been sentenced to jail and has to have a non-parole period of 4 years – when she will be deported.
So we are going to punish ourselves with high costs to punish her, and then deport her. How bloody stupid. Is there anyone alive and thinking in government? Pollies have to be more than sentient, they need to think about crime and punishment – the musical perhaps rather than the book.. All singing and dancing taxpayers who want a cost-benefit analysis of what period is a worthwhile punishment. This after preparing systems setting out what is to be done in retraining, discussion about ethical rules in society, an effort to reach any remnants of personal spirit, morality and future goal setting and assistance etc. which would be effective in preventing recidivism and in how short a time. Then release the non-violent ones with reporting to probation officers and with recall possible for serious infringements.
Why does Winston Peters have to be such a not-so-smart dick so much of the time? Just when he is in a position to do something useful for the NZ political system now, he blabs on about how he is too good to have anything to do with MP or Mana because he won’t have a bar of race-based politics.
Oh can it will you Winston. Just shut your gob, work with whomever and help us to get a forward looking, practical, people and SME oriented government, that is if you care about NZ and not just your bloody image being flashed around, getting more double breasted suits and hair grooming products, advancing your own future and getting the dosh.
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...
I think we can all agree that the mainstream media in New Zealand has a very different set of rules for the right wing compared to the left. While Labour and Green Party politicians don’t seem to be able to fart without it becoming a sackable offence, National and Act ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 28 through Sat, July 4, 2020Editor's Choice'2040': A funny, entertaining, upbeat climate documentaryA timely Australian documentary takes a 'solutions' approach, with the filmmaker inspired by visions of ...
Racist National MP Hamish WalkerEven before Todd Muller's coup ousted Simon Bridges by a single vote, it was patently obvious that the National Party promotes and stands for white privilege. In fact they’ve always worked to ensure the discriminatory status quo in New Zealand doesn’t change.So it’s no surprise that ...
Dave HeatleyZero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second ...
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...
I wrote earlier in the week about the Scientology front organisations Drug Free World and Drug Free Ambassadors and their quite prominent role in anti-cannabis reform "coalition" assembled by Family First and a newloca branch of the American prohibitionist organisation SAM.It turns out Family First aren't the only ones helping ...
Nik GreenMuch of the public debate about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the extent to which government regulations have restricted personal and business activity.Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government Here in New Zealand, the question of when to change Alert Levels dominated the ...
Raising The Bar: Would that the Prime Minister and her colleagues would listen as intently to what the people – as opposed to the power elites – are saying as the Greens. Were they so disposed, the popular clamour for a transformational post-Covid reset would be loud in their ears. ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzDo you think the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will slow or ...
A bit like a letter home. I have now been full-time at the University of Melbourne since 2019. Before that, I was 20 years at the University of Otago, Wellington. Indeed, I set up this very Public Health Expert Blog with Nick Wilson ten years ago. Now I am your ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections House Democrats have released a comprehensive report showing how – if they control the White House and both the Senate and the House of Representatives – they might move forward on climate change. Their “Climate Crisis Action Plan,” released June 30 by the ...
Not Ready: Todd Muller’s lack-lustre and self-contradictory performances offer conclusive proof that a political leader cannot be managed into competence. National’s new boss has Janet Wilson handling his media and Matthew Hooton writing his speeches. Both are highly professional political and public relations specialists, and Muller is lucky to have ...
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...
It started as a family story, about a step-father who went out one night to break into an embassy in Wadestown, Wellington. John Daniell wanted to understand what his family had been part of when his mother and then step-father work for New Zealand’s Security Intelligence. He wanted to know ...
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...
My house is currently supplied electricity by Meridian. As soon as I can change I will because Meridian spilled water to hike electricity prices. They got consumers to spend an extra $80 million on power unnecessarily. Clever them. The Electricity Authority has called their behaviour an “undesirable trading situation”, or ...
When Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became the Labour Party leader shortly before the 2017 general election, she promised to lead a government of transformation. After nearly three years occupying the Treasury benches, health professionals working in public hospitals have been keenly waiting for transformational progress, including in the capacity and quality ...
Last night, One News ran a follow-up story to its Colmar Brunton poll results on the cannabis referendum, headed here as Government accuses big American anti-cannabis group of interfering in NZ politics.In truth it wasn't just the government: Justice minister Andrew Little, National's Shane Reti and the Greens' Chloe Swarbrick ...
When the government refused to put cameras on fishing boats to ensure fishers obeyed the law, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash claimed that coalition partner NZ First (which has received large donations from the fishing industry) was not responsible for the decision. He has repeated that claim repeatedly since then. But ...
Heroic Evasions: Labour needs to be unequivocal in its communications with the electorate. Either it has a plan to prevent their fellow New Zealanders from falling off the economic cliff, or it doesn’t. Either it has a fiscal policy equal to the task of funding that plan, or it hasn’t. ...
Prof John Potter*Elimination has been an effective strategy for New Zealand in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic virus (SARS-CoV-2). Most other countries have not pursued this goal and are ignoring the opportunity even now. SARS-CoV-2 is not manageable by the influenza playbook; its longer incubation period makes tracing ...
This is a re-post from Weather Underground by Bob HensonAbove: This rainbow appears unusually low in the sky because it has formed early in the afternoon, rather than toward sunset. For a rainbow to form, water droplets must be present in the air in front of an observer ...
On Monday, Todd Muller gave an important speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, He spoke firmly about his belief in the need for foreign investment, for the public sector to partner with the private sector rather than boss it around and, crucially, demanded the government deliver a clear strategy ...
Todd Muller's first act on become party leader was to appoint an all-white front bench. This understandably raised eyebrows, so he is now apparently reconsidering caucus and list rankings. Which is obviously necessary, but there's still the underlying problem: National doesn't have a lot of Māori MP's. And the reason ...
Meridian energy has been caught manipulating the electricity market for fun and profit: Meridian Energy pushed up power prices by unnecessary spilling water from its south dams in December that could have been used for generation, the Electricity Authority has ruled in a preliminary decision. The authority said the ...
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...
Hearing the Prime Minister castigate the Warehouse for laying off 1,000 workers after receiving $52 million in wage subsidies reminds me of the fabled frog who agreed to carry a scorpion across a river. The scorpion stings the frog halfway across, dooming both to drown. The frog cries “Why on ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Prof Michael BakerCompared with other OECD countries NZ is a stand-out success story by ending community transmission of COVID-19. While there have been some well-publicised recent deficiencies (eg, quarantine organisation), there has still been no evidence of community transmission for many weeks. Nevertheless, ...
It’s June 30th, marked as Asteroid Day by many people of an astronomical bent around the globe. On this date in 1908, early in the morning in a remote part of central Siberia, the sky fell in. Well, not literally. What happened is a substantially-sized lump of cosmic detritus ...
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...
Don Franks Poverty, inequality – really – aren’t politicians paid to sort that stuff ? Why can’t they just get it together and come up with something fair and sensible? A cold rainy 2020 morning, a headline showed promise. “Green Party’s $8b plan would guarantee an income of $325 a ...
A guest repost by Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) staff attorney Augusta Wilson. Fundraising is not the objective of this article but readers may wish to know that CSLDF is currently conducting a summer fundraiser to support defense of research scientists and research integrity from anti-science interference by politicians and industrial interests. The COVID-19 pandemic ...
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...
The US state of Mississippi has finally voted to remove the Confederate emblem from its state flag. Good. Its appalling that it was put there in the first place, but even more appalling that it took so long to remove it. Its basicly as if a German Länder still had ...
No one could have predicted when David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill was passed by Parliament last November that the referendum required to bring the legislation into force would be held against the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic. Since then, the mounting tally of casualties around the world ...
Paul GoldsmithYou can often tell just how effective a progressive policy proposal will be by how much the right wing criticise it. The more socially beneficial, the more vitriolic and unhinged they seem to become.That was the case when the Green Party announced their Poverty Action Plan yesterday. The response ...
Back at the beginning of April, when we had much else on our minds, I wrote this post urging some caution in interpreting the results of the latest Horizon poll, conducted in February, on voting intentions in this year's cannabis referendum, which was paid for by Helius Therapeutics.I wrote that ...
Over the weekend the Greens made their first election policy announcement, and promised transformational change: a more progressive tax system, with new rates applying to incomes of $100,000 and $150,000; a new wealth tax on net wealth over $1 million; and a guaranteed minimum income to eliminate poverty. Its bold, ...
Story of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Global Warming Is Melting Our Sense of Time Satellite image of smoke from active fires burning near the ...
. . Plague town? There are two things right now in Aotearoa New Zealand that are guaranteed to piss people off. Firstly, it’s National playing silly-bugger politics with the covid-19 pandemic. This cost Simon Bridges his job as National’s Leader. Lately, Michael Woodhouse has been playing fast and loose with ...
Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...
The latest opinion poll forecasts a landslide win by Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party, but when taken alongside other polling, it illustrates New Zealand politics remains volatile and the contest is still very open. According to the Colmar Brunton poll published by TVNZ last night, Labour would easily romp back ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 21 through Sat, June 27, 2020Editor's ChoiceFacebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers Facebook is "aiding and abetting the spread of climate misinformation,” said Robert Brulle, an ...
The images and reports delivered to us by the world’s media leave us in no doubt that the rest of the world is still in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of slackening, but is actually uncontrolled and picking up pace in many countries; and even ...
Minister of Health - David ClarkIf you follow politics at all in New Zealand, David Clark is likely a name you’re a bit familiar with. The current Minister of Health is perhaps the most disliked Member of Parliament at the moment, which amongst very stiff competition is really saying something. ...
SUNDAY JUNE 28Beat the Chasers (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). Judging by the tweets, which is probably a bad idea, over lockdown, all of New Zealand found itself in front of The Chase every night at 5pm. It is a brilliant fomat: hardly anyone wins any money ...
SATURDAY JUNE 27Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art (Sky Arts, Sky 017, 8.00pm). There was graffiti before Banksy, but perhaps his pungent political messages hit home a bit harder. Anyways, a doco about his influence on street art featuring a bunch of cool people.SUNDAY JUNE 28Beat the Chasers (TVNZ 1, ...
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone!This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters A massive dust storm formed over the Sahara Desert last week and invaded the Caribbean over the June 20-21 weekend, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution and low visibility to the islands. The dust is accompanied by a large amount ...
Will the Covid Crisis lead to a dramatic redirection for New Zealand and the World? A hinge in history occurs where the past and present are connected but they point in different directions. Big hinges are rare but crucial in the development of humankind. Not in Narrow Seas identifies six. ...
RNZ reports that Refining NZ is considering shutting down Marsden Point and effectively turning itself into a fuel distribution service. The problem they're immediately trying to address is that running a refinery is expensive, and it is cheaper just to import processed fuel. But there's a longer-term problem too: climate ...
We all know that the COVID-19 virus is a terrible infectious disease that has already caused untold misery and numerous deaths around the world. Nearly half a million people have already died, and those are just the cases we know about.But how bad could things actually get exactly?Today, the NZ ...
This essay by Alex Hochuli examines the global phenomena of BLM protests . He is a freelance writer and research consultant based in São Paulo, Brazil. He is the co-host of the global politics podcast, Aufhebunga Bunga, and co-author of the forthcoming Politics at the End of the End of History (Zero ...
Are You Still Here? Just like his colleague, Phil Twyford – of KiwiBuild fame – David Clark juts out his chin and shamelessly apportions blame to everybody but himself. Even worse, he has turned viciously on Ashley Bloomfield, the nearest approximation to a competent, decent, humble and accountable public servant ...
. . 20 June The bad news: Aotearoa New Zealand has two new cases of covid-19. The good news: the two cases were picked up at an Auckland quarantine facility. The terrifying news: had the story of the two women leaving quarantine without testing not broken four days ...
Willing Victims: What would all those Americans in MAGA hats be left with if they abandoned Trump? Just the sick feeling of having been cheated. Just the knowledge that the man in the White House is nothing more than a shape-shifting New York grifter; and that they have always been ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Like an earthquake rumbling down the San Andreas Fault, Jeff Gibbs’ and Michael Moore’s controversial film “Planet of the Humans” tore a rift through the environmental movement, a rift its leaders would not yearn for in an election year. After activists have spent ...
There have been a number of articles written about the voting in the final statges of the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill, during which National MPs voted alongside the Green Party to force a change that would prevent the removal of sentenced prisoners from the Electoral Roll. You can ...
Last night should have been a cause for muted celebration in Parliament. The Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Bill’s final passage through the House partially erases a stain on New Zealand’s democratic system. It’s a drum I’ve been beatingfor thepast decade, but denying all sentenced prisoners the right to vote is a ...
Jordan WilliamsIt’s pretty obvious to all and sundry that the Taxpayers Union, run by Jordan Williams, isn’t really a union at all. Instead it’s a small lobby group for privileged white folk, namely the old fools behind the scenes of the corrupt and largely defunct Act Party.With an incorrectly attributed ...
Last year, I highlighted a secrecy problem with the government's Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The Bill would establish a new class of public entity, "special purpose vehicles", to hide debt from local government balance sheets fund infrastructure such as roads and sewers in "high-growth" councils. The SPVs would collect ...
Both the leader of the opposition Todd Muller and University of Auckland Professor Des Gorman have gone on the record as saying they suspect Covid-19 is spreading in the community in New Zealand once again. Let me explain why I don’t agree with them. As best I can tell there ...
By Geoffrey Miller A former MP and Associate Minister of Defence says that New Zealand’s Covid-19 border and quarantine issues illustrate why a new dedicated national security agency is needed. Heather Roy, a former deputy leader of the Act Party who held the associate defence portfolio from 2008-10, told the ...
Annual fishing report It's been about a year since we swapped out the Research News deckhand. It seems longer— particularly the past 4 months— and not because of this particular work. Over the course of the year somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,500 articles have been caught in our net, ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
New Zealand First MP Fletcher Tabuteau is pleased to be confirmed today as the party’s candidate for the Rotorua electorate. Speaking at the Rotorua AGM for New Zealand First, Mr Tabuteau said this is an election that is incredibly important for the people of Rotorua. “The founding principles of New ...
The Human Rights Commission’s PRISM report on the issues impacting people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) provides an excellent programme of work for future governments to follow, say the Greens. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the trans-Tasman bubble had not been jeopardised after aborder botch-upresulted in New Zealand having two active cases of COVID-19. On Friday, Mr Peters told RNZ's Morning Report he had heard from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders for trans-Tasman travel would open by ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said today he was pleased the army was now running the quarantine and isolation process - up until now it has been the Ministry of Health. Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the army knew how to introduce and follow protocols and instil discipline. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First MP and Minister for Defence and Veteran’s Affairs Ron Mark has confirmed his bid for the Wairarapa seat.“The Coalition Government has done a lot of good work throughout the Wairarapa, but many constituents have told ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its next tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. We’re proud to announce these hardworking New Zealanders that have put their hand up to fight for a commonsense and resilient future.Jamie Arbuckle – Kaikoura Mark Arneil – Christchurch Central Jackie ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence A massive joint effort between New Zealand Government agencies, employers, and the Vanuatu Government is underway to repatriate over 1000 Vanuatu nationals stranded in New Zealand, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $2.5 million into three Te Ara Mahi programmes to support Manawatū-Whanganui jobseekers and employees to quickly train and upskill, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Up to 154 local people will be supported into employment within the first year by these ...
This morning I have formally tendered my resignation as Minister of Health, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Serving as Minister of Health has been an absolute privilege – particularly through these extraordinary last few months. It’s no secret that Health is a challenging portfolio. I have given ...
Scholarships for 57 early-career agricultural emissions scientists from 20 developing countries is another example of New Zealand’s international leadership in primary sector sustainability, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor, announcing the scholarships today, says hundreds of applications were received for this fourth round of the CLIFF-GRADS programme (Climate, Food ...
A project to help rejuvenate the Horowhenua town of Foxton will receive a Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.86 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This funding for the Foxton Regeneration project will be used to make the well-known holiday town even more attractive for visitors and ...
Moa bones and other sub-fossil remains of extinct species are set to have improved protection with proposals to prevent the trade in extinct species announced the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “We have lost too many of our native species, but these lost species, such as moa, remain an ...
The Government’s free and healthy school lunches programme moves south for the first time creating jobs for around 30 people in Otago and Southland. “Eighteen schools with 3000 students are joining the programme – 11 have already begun serving lunches, and seven are preparing to start during Term 3. This is ...
Thousands of Kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand productions will be protected through a screen sector support package announced today by Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford and Minister for Broadcasting Kris Faafoi. The package also includes investment in broadcasting ...
The Government has established a new $10 million fund for the domestic events sector to help save jobs and protect incomes as it recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. This funding from Budget 2020 follows talks with the event sector designed to ...
The Government has taken another step in its commitment to making sure New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump with the introduction of legislation to improve competition in the retail fuel market, says Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. “The fuel market study that this Government ordered ...
New Zealand has joined a global initiative that aims to enable all countries to access a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. The COVAX Facility was recently launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The Alliance includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank ...
From today new legislation takes effect to both restore the right to legal representation at the start of a Care of Children (CoCA) dispute in the Family Court, and allow parties to those proceedings to access legal aid where eligible. During a visit to the Family Court in Auckland today, ...
Home-based early childhood education (ECE) subsidised by the government will transition to a fully qualified workforce by 2025 to ensure better and more consistent quality, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Quality early learning helps provide children with a strong foundation for their future,” Chris Hipkins said. From 1 January ...
The new Criminal Cases Review Commission | Te Kāhui Tātari Ture (CCRC) has started work and can now independently investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “Even though we have appeal rights and safeguards against unsafe convictions, from time to time our justice system does get things wrong. The design of the ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou Ki a koutou Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, ngā mana whenua o te rohe nei, tēnā koutou Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa ki ngā take o te Ao (NZIIA), Ko te Rōpū Tohu Tono ...
The Government’s increase to paid parental leave kicks in today with another 4 weeks taking New Zealand up to a full 6 months (26 weeks, up from 22 weeks) leave for new parents, and the maximum weekly payment will increase by $20pw, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. ...
A new package of infrastructure investments will help kick-start the post-COVID rebuild by creating more than 20,000 jobs and unlocking more than $5 billion of projects up and down New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones today outlined how the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today expressed the New Zealand Government’s deep disappointment at the passage by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee of a national security law for Hong Kong. “New Zealand has consistently emphasised its serious concern about the imposition of this legislation on Hong Kong without inclusive ...
More jobs and more family time with newborns are the centrepiece of a suite of Government initiatives coming into effect today. July 1 is a milestone day for the Government as a host of key policies take effect, demonstrating the critical areas where progress has been made. “The Coalition Government ...
Environment Minister David Parker has today “called in” Auckland’s application to the Waikato Regional Council to take an extra 200 million litres of water a day from the lower reaches of the Waikato River for Auckland drinking water and other municipal uses. The call-in means the application has been referred ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker announced today that New Zealand’s hosting of APEC in 2021 will go ahead using virtual digital platforms. Mr Peters said the global disruption caused by COVID-19, including resultant border restrictions, had been the major factor in the ...
The start of construction on a new link road between Matakana Road and State Highway 1 will create jobs and support the significant population growth expected in the Warkworth area, Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Mayor Phil Goff announced today. Transport Minister Phil Twyford said construction of the Matakana Link ...
The Government is prioritising its latest investment in PPE for frontline health workers, including staff at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, Health Minister David Clark says. “With no community transmission of COVID-19 our response now has a firm focus on keeping our border safe and secure. “We must ensure that ...
The Parihaka Papakāinga Trust in Taranaki will receive up to $14 million for a new visitor centre and other improvements at the historic settlement that will boost the local economy and provide much-needed jobs, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little have ...
Protections for workers who are employees of one employer but working under the direction of another business or organisation have come into force, closing a gap in legislation that made the personal grievance process inaccessible for some workers, says Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “This Government is working hard to ...
A range of improvements are already underway to address issues identified in the rapid review of the Managed Isolation and Quarantine system released today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. The review was commissioned just over a week ago to identify and understand current and emerging risks to ensure the end-to-end ...
The important brown kiwi habitat around Whakatāne will receive added protection through an Iwi-led predator free project announced by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. “The Government is investing nearly $5 million into Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa’s environmental projects with $2.5 ...
An extra 4,000 tonnes of offcuts and scraps of untreated wood per year will soon be able to be recycled into useful products such as horticultural and garden mulch, playground safety surfacing and animal bedding as a result of a $660,000 investment from the Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister ...
The Governor-General has referred Scott Watson’s convictions for murder back to the Court of Appeal, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Mr Watson was convicted in 1999 of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. His appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2000 was unsuccessful, as was his ...
A new five-year funding agreement for the Reserve Bank will mean it can boost its work to protect New Zealanders’ finances, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “New Zealand has a strong and stable financial system. Financial stability is an area that we are not prepared to cut corners for, particularly ...
A law change has been introduced to make it easier for forgotten funds in institutional accounts to be returned more easily to their rightful owners. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash has introduced an amendment to the Unclaimed Money Act 1971. It will update the rules controlling forgotten sums of money held ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Days after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Philippines Anti-Terrorism Law, Vice-President Leni Robredo has pushed for safeguards so that the controversial measure would not be abused, reports Rappler. In her weekly radio show with co-host Ely Saludar, Robredo noted that she does not oppose the law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Developments in Melbourne on Saturday are more important, and certainly of more interest to the public, than what has happened in Eden-Monaro. Anthony Albanese is set to struggle over the line in the Labor seat, ...
The campaign to stop the Department of Conservation exterminating tahr in national parks is gathering increasing public support, with nearly 40,000 people signing the petition calling for a halt to DOC’s plans. The Change.org petition was started ...
DATE: Sunday, 5th July 2020 TIME: 15:00 LOCATION: Taylor Preston's, Centennial Highway, Wellington On Sunday, Wellington Animal Save will be bearing witness to animals on their way to slaughter, outside Taylor Preston's slaughterhouse. ...
Local Government’s Regional Sector are welcoming an announcement today of over $162 million in central government funding for 22 regional and unitary council Jobs for Nature projects, saying the strong support is an endorsement of the return on ...
Political editor Justin Giovannatti reports from Te Papa, where the prime minister today addressed Labour’s 2020 Congress.Jacinda Ardern looked to slap a Labour sticker on the team of five million with the launch today of the party’s Covid-19 recovery plan, at an event which serves as the unofficial kickoff to ...
Kelvin Davis stole the show at Labour’s 2019 conference with a hilarious speech about the formation of the coalition government. The party’s oft-underestimated deputy leader was again in the spotlight this year, but with a more solemn yet at times impassioned address outlining the country’s Covid-19 sacrifices. Here is the text: Anne Guenole. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Russo, Associate Professor, Director Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash University The Victorian government’s decision to “close and contain” nine public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne represents a significant escalation in the fight against COVID-19. Under the ...
By Grace Auka-Salmang in Port Moresby Key findings from the 2016 to 2018 Papua New Guinea Demographic and Health Survey reveals that 56 percent of women aged 15 to 49 in PNG have experienced physical violence around the age of 15. And 28 percent have experienced sexual violence. Also 18 ...
The New Zealand Herald recently published a column which criticises its own record on race. Teuila Fuatai explains why she felt she had to call out the paper that commissioned her. In the column, freelance journalist Teuila Fuatai detailed her concerns about the Herald’s record on race and her efforts to ...
Dunedin writer Victor Billot farewells retiring National MP Paula Bennett.Working Class Hero I came up the hard way in Taupo, you see, surviving off Weetbix (just occasionally.) I waited tables then knocked off a degree, perhaps with the help of a state subsidy. Then a man with a ...
Three of the country's biggest seafood companies have broken ranks with the rest of the sector and declared their support for cameras on fishing boats. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne This article was updated July 5. With 77% of enrolled voters counted at Saturday’s Eden-Monaro byelection, Labor’s Kristy McBain currently leads the Liberals’ Fiona Kotvojs by a 50.8-49.2 projected ...
The family of pioneering New Zealand suffragist Kate Sheppard kept an important secret – one that possibly explains a lot about her life, her beliefs and her motivation.Kate Sheppard’s secret involved her father, Andrew Wilson Malcolm, and what happened to him after she was born. An extensive and painstaking quest ...
Covid-19 or not, renewable energy is the future. That’s why one grassroots business is taking a leap of faith and trusting that the current downturn will eventually yield to an ecotourism boom.To launch an ecotourism business in rural Otago right now, you’d need to be either a visionary or just ...
Sam Brooks reviews Auckland writer Lil O’Brien’s memoir Not That I’d Kiss A Girl, and finds it a valuable yet unclear story of the author’s struggle with her own acceptance.As queer people, we can be unnecessarily harsh on media that is about us, and by us. I think of the ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
In the wake of lockdown, Volunteering New Zealand is calling on people to reshape the way they think about volunteering. To unite with whānau, friends and workmates to make a group commitment to a community or cause that matters to them. Covid-19 ...
Mahesh Bindra has been a loyal member of NZ First for almost 15 years. But as an Indian-New Zealander, what does he make of members of his party attacking his community? Multicultural Times editor Gaurav Sharma reports.Winston Peters, deputy prime minister and leader of New Zealand First, likes to say ...
As Auckland suffers its worst drought in 27 years, many of the city’s self-service car washes are doing a roaring trade. Michael Andrew finds out how these businesses are getting around the strict water restrictions.Car washing may seem like a wasteful luxury in the middle of a drought, but take ...
Call it last, call it the foundation: Georgie Dansey is 84th on the Labour Party list for the 2020 election. Here she explains how she got there.What does it take to come last on the Labour list? It’s a bit of a story, so if you’re feeling tl;dr then just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At Saturday’s Eden-Monaro byelection, Labor’s Kristy McBain currently leads the Liberals’ Fiona Kotvojs by a 50.7-49.3 projected margin in The Poll Bludger’s Eden-Monaro election page. This page has all the ...
The controversial MP says his former party put a target on the minister’s back, but Melissa Lee insists there was no concerted campaign.The MP who exited the National Party in a tailspin attack on former leader Simon Bridges has publicly apologised to Clare Curran for his role in the treatment ...
By Jane Patterson, political editor of RNZ News The State Services Minister says the government will do everything it can to track down who is responsible for a massive privacy breach relating to New Zealand’s active covid cases, and is not ruling out pursuing criminal charges. An investigation has been ...
The National editorial Hundreds walked the Sir John Guise drive on Thursday calling for justice for the brutal death of 19-year-old mother-of-two – Jenelyn Kennedy last week. Jenelyn’s battered lifeless body was taken into the Port Moresby General Hospital last Tuesday by four men (one believed to be the father ...
*Watch the full video in the player below*In the first 48 hours of life, blood from newborn New Zealand babies is taken and tested. Most parents will never hear back. For others, it’s life-changing, and life-saving. Frank Film investigates. Performed 48 hours after birth, it’s a medical procedure ...
Latest from the Beehive Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, in a joint statement with fellow Northlander and Deputy PM Winston Peters, wrapped up a week of handout investment announcements with news of more millions for the people of his patch in the Far North. This time it was a ...
By Rebecca Kuku in Port Moresby A passionate plea by men, women and children has echoed around the Papua New Guinean capital of Port Moresby – that it is time to turn the corner on addressing gender-based violence in the country. Gatherings, a peaceful march and a vigil were staged ...
Former Race Relations Commissioner Gregory Fortuin has called out National MP Hamish Walker for his racist comments towards people of colour. This follows Walker's press release objecting to people from Pakistan, India and Korea potentially being quarantined ...
Khruangbin have established their live reputation with spacious instrumentals, but the band’s third album, Mordechai, features prominent vocals and disco-funk jams. Andrew Drever interviews the Texas-based trio upon its release.While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage in the US, the situation has actually been a blessing in disguise for Khruangbin ...
The State Services Minister says the government will do everything it can to track down who is responsible for a massive privacy breach relating to New Zealand's active Covid cases, and is not ruling out pursuing criminal charges. ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
With the collapse of Bauer NZ resulting in Australian magazines flooding our shelves, Wendyl Nissen looks back at her battle to get homegrown content given the star billing it deserved.Thanks to some hard-fought battles 30 years ago, New Zealand women have been enjoying their own version of Woman’s Day and ...
Extending the franchise to prisoners is the latest in a series of contentious electoral reforms enacted by this government, but history suggests the ‘convention’ for consensual election reform is more imagined than real.The Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Act, passed last week and corrected this week, extends the franchise ...
Since publication of Newsroom’s extensive investigation into serious issues at Oranga Tamariki, our inbox has been flooded with stories from more current and former employees. In less than 48 hours after Newsroom’s in-depth inquiry into the children's ministry was published we received a high volume of correspondence from current and former ...
“She’d come into town on the bus. The photographer, so her mother had told her, was famous”: a short story by Wellington writer Elspeth Sandys. It was to be a present for her father who was dying. A photograph of her in her first ball gown. When she reached for ...
Those who can’t afford to travel will “attend” the terror sentencing via video link, the Immigration Minister says. David Williams reports The Immigration Minister is demanding officials give urgent help to overseas victims of the Christchurch terror attack and their families. Yesterday, High Court Justice Cameron Mander announced the terrorist, ...
Controversy over Wellington's Shelly Bay has ensnared iwi, the council and politicians for years. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager uses official documents to lay out the roles of money, power and wheels-within-wheels on this most contentious of developments. Any time I am asked whether we have corruption in New Zealand, I ...
Is the answer to saving New Zealand's professional sports teams creating super-franchises? The Extra Time podcast asks sports leaders. Professional sport is slowly emerging from the grip of the pandemic but its financial future is far from certain. Covid-19 highlighted a weakness in the structure of professional sport in New ...
Before Covid-19, it’d take a long flight and half a grand to see Hamilton in the flesh. Now, the biggest musical of the past two decades is available to watch on Disney+. Sam Brooks takes stock of this extraordinary move. Right now, Broadway is a sleeping dragon. New York theatres ...
Sacked cabinet minister Clare Curran speaks for the first time about the brutal end to her political career – and what she calls the toxicity and bullying that marked her years in parliament. By Donna Chisholm.Of all the humiliations – often self-inflicted – that Clare Curran endured during her 12-year ...
On 03 July Children’s Commissioner was given additional responsibility by the Minister of Justice which extended its role as the independent monitor of the conditions and treatment of children and young people in secure detention centres. The Children’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, ARC Future Fellow, UNSW The term “heatwave” is no stranger to Australians. Defined as when conditions are excessively hot for at least three days in a row, these extreme temperature events have always punctuated our climate. With many of us ...
Pacific Media Watch A senior Indonesian government official and a New Zealand journalism professor have clashed over differing perspectives on access for journalists and media to the West Papua region. Speaking on a webinar organised by the Jubi newspaper in Jayapura, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ director of the European affairs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Mintzes, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney To beat the coronavirus pandemic, countries need to collaborate. We need the best possible science to develop vaccines and drugs, and to test, track and contain the virus. If we’ve learned anything ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Let’s turn back the hands of time. Before extinction knocked dinosaurs off their pillar, before the “Great Dying” extinction wiped out 95% of all organisms – we had the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Williams, Researcher at the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine (VELiM), University of Sydney Last week, outgoing chief medical officer Brendan Murphy announced all returned travellers would be tested for COVID-19 before and after quarantine. Some were surprised ...
A new package to help foreign nationals stuck in New Zealand due to Covid-19 is inadequate and needs to be supplemented with the emergency benefit, say Community Law Centres O Aotearoa (CLCA) and the Human Rights Commission (HRC). The assistance ...
With Shortland Street’s 7,000th episode screening tonight, Tara Ward salutes the soap for keeping calm and carrying on through level three lockdown. It’s been one heck of a week on Shortland Street. Leanne lost her winning $8 million Lotto ticket, Louis slipped over in a pile of vomit, and Desi tried ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate, University of Melbourne In recent days, the prime ministers of the UK and Australia each declared they are working toward providing safe haven visas for Hong Kong residents. In the US, lawmakers passed a bill ...
How two multi-millionaires, two pandemic futurists, Air NZ’s former boss, a dairy executive on a break, a retired anaesthetist (and a few others) nearly saved NZ. ...
A commitment from Labour to protect productive farmland from blanket afforestation if re-elected is a step in the right direction, Federated Farmers Meat & Wool Chairperson William Beetham says. "We’re really pleased there is now ...
Tomorrow, 4 July, will see protests in at least nine centres around New Zealand against Israeli plans to steal more Palestinian land (Details are at the end of this media release) “Virtually the entire international community is standing together ...
Pacific Media Watch Australia’s ABC has revealed the Australian Federal Police (AFP) recommendation regarding the Afghan Files investigative journalism report is for the Commonwealth DPP to consider charging journalist Dan Oakes for his role in the leak. The revelation has prompted a renewed call by the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom ...
While we’re growing in confidence that we are in the enviable position of basically eliminating Covid-19, our trading nation at the bottom of the world is also in the unenviable position of locking off our economy to the world. “No is not an answer ...
Netflix’s new adaptations of The Baby-Sitters Club makes long-time fan Tara Ward fall in love with the series all over again. When I was 12 years old, my class had to write a letter to a famous person. Some of my classmates wrote to an All Black, Tom Cruise or ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning the scale and value of the Government’s $230m screen industry recovery package. Union spokesperson Jordan Williams says: “The official justification for this ‘recovery package’ is the impact of COVID-19 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Former Ambassador and Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland Chinese activity in Papua New Guinea was not the only factor behind Australia’s Pacific “Step-Up”. As a former high commissioner to PNG, I know it ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk A Papuan church leader and advocate for social justice has penned an open letter to the Indonesian government calling for justice and an end to racism to enable a genuine self-determination process for the Melanesian region. “The problem of Papua has become increasingly complex and severe ...
Latest from the Beehive – Nine press releases (when we checked this morning) had flowed from the Beehive since we last reported. Eight of them brayed about the money Ministers have been spending and (as they prefer to put it) investing. The sole exception came from Environment Minister David ...
CEAC pre-election review of National Party ‘climate change policy’, is lacking in substance without any clear policy, that will leave voters with no idea of what National Party plans for saving our climate, and glancing at their ‘Transport plans’, ...
Film crews can get exemptions to enter New Zealand, so why not the families and supporters of terror victims, David Williams asks. OPINION: If the public needs a sign last year’s terrorist attack has slipped off the Government’s radar, this is it. A sentencing date has been set for the ...
A new poem by Michaela Keeble.Only the ocean only the oceanturns me overlike this only the oceanturns meon like this only the oceangives warning: what will changeand when so it doesn’t comeacrosslike violence white capsdrift inon the rising tide i feel likeopening my legs i don’t wantto do anything elsetoday i don’t wantto goto work i want to lie downwith ...
As the Covid-19 pandemic rages round the world, New Zealanders are re-discovering food production is the fundamental engine of the economy. And farming is not a sunset industry. Instead of being rubbished by lobby groups for so-called “dirty dairying”, the country’s core export industry has the chance to transform itself ...
Open mike 28/07/2014 
Open mike is your post.
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...9 hours ago
13 hours ago
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 28 through Sat, July 4, 2020 Editor's Choice '2040': A funny, entertaining, upbeat climate documentary A timely Australian documentary takes a 'solutions' approach, with the filmmaker inspired by visions of ...21 hours ago
Dave Heatley Zero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second ...2 days ago
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...2 days ago
Three years ago the ABC used leaked information to expose war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan. Since then the chief of Australia's special forces has admitted that his troops committed war crimes. But guess who the Australian government is prosecuting? Police have referred allegations against an ABC journalist relating ...3 days ago
3 days ago
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...4 days ago
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...4 days ago
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...6 days ago
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...6 days ago
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...6 days ago
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...6 days ago
. . Plague town? There are two things right now in Aotearoa New Zealand that are guaranteed to piss people off. Firstly, it’s National playing silly-bugger politics with the covid-19 pandemic. This cost Simon Bridges his job as National’s Leader. Lately, Michael Woodhouse has been playing fast and loose with ...7 days ago
Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...7 days ago
The images and reports delivered to us by the world’s media leave us in no doubt that the rest of the world is still in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of slackening, but is actually uncontrolled and picking up pace in many countries; and even ...1 week ago
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone! This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...1 week ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...11 hours ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...3 days ago
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...4 days ago
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...10 hours ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Days after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Philippines Anti-Terrorism Law, Vice-President Leni Robredo has pushed for safeguards so that the controversial measure would not be abused, reports Rappler. In her weekly radio show with co-host Ely Saludar, Robredo noted that she does not oppose the law ...1 hour ago
Justice Minister Andrew Little is committed to reviewing the legal aid threshold in the Family Court if re-elected. ...4 hours ago
The campaign to stop the Department of Conservation exterminating tahr in national parks is gathering increasing public support, with nearly 40,000 people signing the petition calling for a halt to DOC’s plans. The Change.org petition was started ...6 hours ago
Political editor Justin Giovannatti reports from Te Papa, where the prime minister today addressed Labour’s 2020 Congress.Jacinda Ardern looked to slap a Labour sticker on the team of five million with the launch today of the party’s Covid-19 recovery plan, at an event which serves as the unofficial kickoff to ...9 hours ago
Kelvin Davis stole the show at Labour’s 2019 conference with a hilarious speech about the formation of the coalition government. The party’s oft-underestimated deputy leader was again in the spotlight this year, but with a more solemn yet at times impassioned address outlining the country’s Covid-19 sacrifices. Here is the text: Anne Guenole. ...9 hours ago
Dunedin writer Victor Billot farewells retiring National MP Paula Bennett. Working Class Hero I came up the hard way in Taupo, you see, surviving off Weetbix (just occasionally.) I waited tables then knocked off a degree, perhaps with the help of a state subsidy. Then a man with a ...13 hours ago
*Watch the full video in the player below* In the first 48 hours of life, blood from newborn New Zealand babies is taken and tested. Most parents will never hear back. For others, it’s life-changing, and life-saving. Frank Film investigates. Performed 48 hours after birth, it’s a medical procedure ...2 days ago
Latest from the Beehive Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, in a joint statement with fellow Northlander and Deputy PM Winston Peters, wrapped up a week of handout investment announcements with news of more millions for the people of his patch in the Far North. This time it was a ...2 days ago
Since publication of Newsroom’s extensive investigation into serious issues at Oranga Tamariki, our inbox has been flooded with stories from more current and former employees. In less than 48 hours after Newsroom’s in-depth inquiry into the children's ministry was published we received a high volume of correspondence from current and former ...2 days ago
“She’d come into town on the bus. The photographer, so her mother had told her, was famous”: a short story by Wellington writer Elspeth Sandys. It was to be a present for her father who was dying. A photograph of her in her first ball gown. When she reached for ...2 days ago
Those who can’t afford to travel will “attend” the terror sentencing via video link, the Immigration Minister says. David Williams reports The Immigration Minister is demanding officials give urgent help to overseas victims of the Christchurch terror attack and their families. Yesterday, High Court Justice Cameron Mander announced the terrorist, ...2 days ago
Controversy over Wellington's Shelly Bay has ensnared iwi, the council and politicians for years. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager uses official documents to lay out the roles of money, power and wheels-within-wheels on this most contentious of developments. Any time I am asked whether we have corruption in New Zealand, I ...2 days ago
Is the answer to saving New Zealand's professional sports teams creating super-franchises? The Extra Time podcast asks sports leaders. Professional sport is slowly emerging from the grip of the pandemic but its financial future is far from certain. Covid-19 highlighted a weakness in the structure of professional sport in New ...2 days ago
How two multi-millionaires, two pandemic futurists, Air NZ’s former boss, a dairy executive on a break, a retired anaesthetist (and a few others) nearly saved NZ. ...2 days ago
Latest from the Beehive – Nine press releases (when we checked this morning) had flowed from the Beehive since we last reported. Eight of them brayed about the money Ministers have been spending and (as they prefer to put it) investing. The sole exception came from Environment Minister David ...3 days ago
Film crews can get exemptions to enter New Zealand, so why not the families and supporters of terror victims, David Williams asks. OPINION: If the public needs a sign last year’s terrorist attack has slipped off the Government’s radar, this is it. A sentencing date has been set for the ...3 days ago
As the Covid-19 pandemic rages round the world, New Zealanders are re-discovering food production is the fundamental engine of the economy. And farming is not a sunset industry. Instead of being rubbished by lobby groups for so-called “dirty dairying”, the country’s core export industry has the chance to transform itself ...3 days ago
What was the position of the various political parties in the polls 6 weeks out from the 2008 and 2011 elections?
Go back to bed, Gossie. You’re bad enough on a Sunday night in England let alone early on a Monday morning.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
The comparable Colmar Brunton poll had National at 56%, 4% ahead of where it is in the latest poll.
i think the media – who seem to be wetting their pants in unison over the idea of a king key..ruling alone like a despot of yore..
..when there is that four-points below last time fact staring them in the face..
..(not to mention no friends who aren’t on life-support….)
..couldn’t be more proof than what’s needed that the media..in the main..
..have both the analytical skills and short-term memories of guppies…
How is the no friends issue any different ot 2008 or 2011?
Exactly, because ACT and the Maori Party are just as popular now as they were in 2008… /sarc
Remarkably, ACT and HAIRDO have been very consistently steady at about naught or thereabouts!
“..(not to mention no friends who aren’t on life-support….)…”
Or heading into jail or oblivion !
Or their chief hash-honcho to Hawaii-5’O in USA!
Two things;
• 1. the polling industry is going to be looking rather sick if this period of tory ‘hyper polling’ is well out from the actual results
• 2. help get people enrolled and assist them to vote early from 3-20 Sept. to make sure the polling industry looks sick! You can still enrol people up to the 19th, but don’t wait, do it today.
http://www.elections.org.nz/voters/enrol-check-or-update-now
http://www.getoutandvote.org.nz
Number one reason low socio-economic groups don’t vote:
It’s too hard to enrol.
There is a sad list of reasons for non enrolment including…
• unawareness of the non printed roll for people worried about debt collectors, ex’s, govt. depts etc.
• overcrowded ‘non addresses’–cars & garages, lapsed PO boxes
• transience
• general alienation and non compliance
These are difficult to overcome with an outdated, and under resourced on purpose it seems, electoral commission approach. No rock is left unturned to track down say traffic fine defaulters but every effort is spared in encouraging non enrollees.
Thats why the ‘outreach’ is happening with unions in particular. Once enrolled people will be contacted as voting time nears.
Excellent points. Those four bullet points feature high in low socio-economic groups. Why would people make themselves visible when they are concerned about the repercussions of becoming visible?
Who can access the roll, btw?
According to Electoral Commission documents only the Registrar can view the unpublished roll. Why is this info itself not published more widely one can ask.
So you must jump through more hoops to go on the unpublished roll, and the unpublished roll would perhaps encourage people worried about violent ex-partners, or aggressive debtors.
It doesn’t address the wider problem of the many hundreds of thousands of people for which day to day life is so tough, humiliating, and distracting, especially during the current government’s war-on-the-poor, that any extra attention is to be avoided.
There was some good discussion on Twitter around Nethui on the issues with the unpublished roll:
I think the entire electoral roll should be unpublished. That, and the enrolment process getting a good kick up the backside into the 21st century. Might get a bigger turn out on polling day.
If you want to win the lower socio economic groups, you need to appeal to them. Free food, free gifts, people to walk them through the process. It depends upon whether you want to win or not.
Where were the other parties tracking though? I am struggling to find the data.
Goto swordfish site
Cheers, Tracey.
Actually, I’m working on a post on this very topic as we speak.
I’ve taken the average % support of the last 10 polls (for all of the parties and blocs) and I’m comparing them with the average for 10 consecutive polls at the same point in 2008 and 2011.
I won’t go into detail here but suffice to say:
– Labour’s average is slightly down on 2011 and wayyyyyyyy down on their 2008 average.
– BUT the Greens are well up on both their 2008 and 2011 average, as are both NZ First and the minor party of the Left (Jim Anderton’s Progressives in 08, the fledgling Mana Party in 11, IMP in 14). Together, their much-improved support share more than compensates for Labour’s decline.
– National and the Right Bloc = well down on 2011 and about equal with 08
– The upshot of it all: This election is looking much more like 2008 than 2011 (and yet the MSM would you believe it’s far, far worse than 11)
– Proviso: Assumes, of course, that Nats and the Right will suffer the same sort of nose-dive that they experienced in both 08 and 11. Tory tr*lls would say “No, they were abberations”, I (and probably Puddleglum and possibly Rob Salmond) would tend toward reluctantly disagreeing with our fine Tory chums.
The trouble with 2008 for ther left is that it was obvious there was a desire to supplant Labour as the main party in government. There is currently not that for the left bloc as a whole.
Eh? Desire by whom?
2008 around the same time before the election would be a more interesting comparison I would suggest. I have found an interesting article on Wikipedia about this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_New_Zealand_general_election,_2008
National had around the same level of support they are getting now with Labour and the Greens trending a bit higher. Even NZ First was getting around the same level of support that they are getting now.
Kind of snap, Gossie, in that we both agree it’s looking much more 08 than 11.
But Labour were doing far better in 08 than now. And Greens were doing far worse.
Overall, whichever way you look at it – gap between National and Lab+Green / gap between Right Bloc and Left Bloc / gap between Right Bloc and Opposition Bloc (Left + Winston) – it’s looking remarkably similar to 2008. (except, of course, Labour down and – crucial, this – NZ First probably going to top 5%).
Individually yes but collectively about the same. It raises a question in my mind though about why the left bloc is not bigger as a whole. 6 years of a National led government should have made the electorate at least more interested in alternatives yet instead we have the same group of left wing supporters seemingly just switching support from Labour to the Greens and not being able to cut in to National party territory or even bring in large numbers of left leaning non-voters..
Its snap cos he read your post before writing his…
Two months out from the election in 2011 Roy Morgan had the closest poll to the actual result (although their NZ First number was way out) –
Roy Morgan 12-25 Sep, 2011-
National: 51 (47.3 Election night)
Labour: 30.5 (27.5)
Green: 11.5 (11.1)
Act: 1.5 (1.1)
Maori: 2.5 (1.4)
UF: 0.5 (0.6)
NZ First: 1 (6.59)
Conservative: 0 (2.65)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_New_Zealand_general_election,_2011
Roy Morgan also had the closest poll to actual result two months out from the 2008 election –
National: 47.5 (44.9)
Labour 36.5 (34)
NZ First: 5 (4.1)
Maori: 1.5 (2.4)
Green: 6.5 (6.7)
Act: 1.5 (3.7)
UF: 0.5 (0.9)
Progressive: 0 (0.9)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_New_Zealand_general_election,_2008
The most recent Roy Morgan, 30 Jun-13 Jul 2014 –
National: 51
Labour: 23.5
Green: 15
NZ First: 6
Maori: 1
Act: 0.5
UF: 0.5
Conservative: 1
IMP: 1.5
Poll Date National Labour Green ACT Māori Progressive United Future NZ First Mana Conservative
News Colmar Brunton[70] 2 October 2011 56 29 9 1.3 1.1 0.0 1.9 0.6
One News Colmar Brunton[80] 3 November 2011 56 30 9 0.9 1.3 0.1 2.2 0.3
One News Colmar Brunton[84] 10 November 2011 54 28 9 1.5 2.1 0.8 2.9 0.2 0.5
One News Colmar Brunton[87] 17 November 2011 51 26 13 1.6 1.6 0.3 2.2 1.3 1.4
One News Colmar Brunton[92] 24 November 2011 50 28 10 1.7 2.0 0.1 4.2 1.0 2.4
2011 election result[97] 26 November 2011 47.31 27.48 11.06 1.07 1.43 –[note c] 0.60 6.59 1.08 2.65
Poll Date National Labour Green ACT Māori Progressive United Future NZ First Mana Conservative
FOE PREFERRED PM,
On One News-Colmar Brunton, 21 August 2011, 3 months to election, Key=57%, Goff= 8%
On One News-Colmar Brunton, 3 Novembr 2011, 3 weeks to election, Key=56 %, Goff=12%
Election was on 26 Nov, where Nats just scraped through with Banks and with 1 seat (Dunne) majority.
You can get more details here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_New_Zealand_general_election,_2011
gosman
??? Zzzzzzzz
??? Zzzzzzzzzz
?????? Zzzzzzzz ????
Were you attempting to make a point with this post?
I thought Rodel’s point was clear 🙂
Care to expand on what he meant then?
Your comment was:
a. that of someone who has fallen asleep and
b. of the the type that falls into the same-old-same-old-boring-enough-to-send-one-to-sleep category.
…of course Rodel put it much more succinctly 🙂
are you thick as well as monotonous, or are you monotonous because you are thick?
In between the propaganda pumped out by the lamestream corporate media about rock star economies et al, just occasionally there is a glimpse through to how tough life really is in NZ.
This one also demonstrates how disgraceful insurance companies are.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/10317439/Insurer-grinds-couple-down
And that it takes an accountant from chchch doing some OIA’s to begin unravelling the great conjuring trick that is the surplus. Good coverage by SST yesterday
Why does this stuff get buried way down on news sites where no one will ever see it?
Link:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10311390/Accountant-claims-surplus-result-of-clever-accounting
And another buried story on National’s planned cutbacks to hospital food which could leave patients malnourished:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11299363
It was very prominent in the hard copy yesterday
heh – on the hospital food note, a friend had a massive heart attack. Lunch in the ward the next day? Four toasty cheese rolls (a southern delicacy that can be foreign to folks above cook Strait, apparently).
They are not your friends.
The first law firm i worked for had two major insurance companies as clients. While i didnt work for the insurance litigating partners, but a general litigating partner, our work crossed over.
I worked on heaps of claims and our job was to find anything at all to challenge the right to claim. Then you create a paper war and see how much fight the “customer” has in them. I left law after five years…
@Paul
‘lamestream’ LOL
I suspect there will be an increase in suicide rates in Christchurch. What is going on down there is unbelievable. Apart from John Campbell the media are practically ignoring Christchurch. Let’s hope the Cantabs play a huge part in voting this government out. Cant imagine they would be voting for the right.
there is one fact that still blows my mind..
(..and one that ..to me..shows that the rebuild of christchurch has turned into a milking-operation..milking for as long as those currently with their snouts in the trough can get away with..)
..that ‘fact’ is that since the first big earthquake in christchurch..
..china has used/poured more concrete than america used in the whole of the twentieth century..
..let that fact sink in..then ask yrslf again..
..why are people in christchurch still shivering in broken/unrepaired homes..?
..all these years later..and with no end to their miseries in sight..?
..and christchurch central looking like a just-started building-site…
..what degree of incompetent-clowns are running this clusterfuck..?
Wow, really? China has used lots of concrete, therefore Christchurch should be rebuilt by now?
The mind boggles.
I am glad someone else wondered about that
‘wow..really?’..you can see no traces of any equivalences/benchmarks there..?
..’the mind boggles’…
China has a billion people
NZ has 4.5 million
China has fuck all safety practices
NZ minimum wage and safety requirements
China has heaps of money
NZ has its fiscal head down the back of banks trousers
?..
so..?..yr point..?
I was looking for equivalencies.
‘none so blind as those who do not want to see’..eh..?
..q.e.d…
Irony lol 😆
fool alert..!..spin the clacker..!
..warn everyone..!..
I saw you coming, and your harmless enough.
I know you are but what am I…
It is like having a discussion with a spinning top with vocal chords
it’s like having a discussion with someone with a barely functioning iq…
..you really have to get right back to basics…
..who has the time/energy..?
Only when New Zealand has fully embraced communism will we make repairing the houses of the working class our priority. “Insurers” and their lackeys will be invited to pick our fields. There they will learn the value of hard work.
Comrade Key even now forges unbreakable bonds with Big Brother China. How fortunate we are to have such a benevolent nation willing to guide us through the process of becoming a Communist nation!
Long Live the International!!
possibly, but any increase might well be hidden in displaced persons, i.e. people who lost their chch home and “emigrated” to Wellington or something. They’d turn up in different regional stats.
this article from last year suggests that there was a spike in 2012, but within previous small-numbers variance. On the flipside, it depends on what was going on with the local population (how many had relocated, whether the influx of workers had changed the demographic profile, and so on): a decrease in population might make the spike a significant change.
So short answer “yes, with an if”, long answer “no, with a but”. Real answer “who the fuck knows”.
1000 Kiwi kids being sponsored by charity – like the sponsorship for people in very poor countries.
Someone will say “only 1000? We are clearly doing well.”
It’s a deeply shameful thing that we have dollar a day kids in NZ, or 50 cents a day to be more precise. What an insecure and cold world we have created for kids growing up in NZ these days.
When I hear people who have plenty of money complaining about people who don’t and making assumptions as to why they don’t, I ask them, if this problem wasn’t serious and was easily solved by your suggestions (give up fags n booze!) do you really think we would need dollar a day kids in NZ? Usually they don’t know that we now have child sponsorship programmes to match programmes they consider relevant only to “third world” nations.
As well as Variety we have Kids Can
http://www.kidscan.org.nz/?gclid=CI220KL55r8CFU4GvAodrGkAog
Absolute respect to the Congolese family in the article. The trauma they have experienced is beyond imagining.
Indeed Rosie, i have been meaning at some time to comment on the Kids Can ads i have recently seen on my Tee Vee,
At first i thought it was the usual ask for 50 cents a day to support a child in Africa, unfortunately not, Kids Can are asking for support for Kiwi Kids,
The worst aspects of third world economics have definitely become well established here in New Zealand, the poverty i would suggest didn’t arrive as luggage, successive Governments have to carry that can of shame as their actions/inactions have been solely responsible…
i think david cunnliffe should promise to open questiontime to public-questions..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/comment-whoar-what-david-cunliffe-should-dopromise-a-novel-idea/
( i present that as an idea that would catch the interest of both the media and the public..to my mind..
..and basically as a ‘good-idea’…)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/politics-should-not-be-an-ugly-persons-showbiz-contest-says-ed-miliband-as-he-announces-plans-for-public-prime-ministers-questions-9631178.html
Wow, Ed reads and understands Phil??!?
Just the original news story without the added Urinalisms.
Does anybody know if Labour will be doing anything about the demolition of Agresearch? Particularly Ruakura?
I’m pretty sure I read somewhere, Ffloyd, that Labour was very opposed to the closure of Agrisearch.
Just can’t remember which paper I read it in/online ! And closure doesn’t fit well with Labour’s policy on innovation, research, sciences – so I think they’d probably do something about re-opening it.
Thanks for the reply JK.
https://www.labour.org.nz/media/labour-will-save-invermay
The Nats blame its democratic processes for its low proportion of female list candidates – as if women are just less capable…. or is it that capable women are just not impressed with the Nats’ politics?
Or maybe it just shows the biases of Nats doing the selection of candidates?
Given the masculine dominance of the senior position in the Nat caucus, and the anti-women policies – especially the callous bashing of single mothers on benefits – the low proportion of female list candidates is not really surprising.
i thought that one deserved a special p.r/spin-award..
..that crediting of their ‘democratic-processes’..
..for their woeful numbers of women on their party list..
..whoar..!..’holy-spin-to-make-you-dizzy!..batman..!’..
..(should key/national re-brand..?…as ‘the mens’-party’..?..
..and just be done with it..?..)
Women should hardly be forced to sully themselves with the grotesque machinations of modern politics. Never should they have to endure long, drawn out arguments, nor stoop to bother themselves with the lesser task of governing the country.
Nats say their list proves that women are just not as good as men.
Course it could be argued, in a society where women are forever getting that systemic grease slathered on ladder rungs, that fewer of them are going to attain a position that would fit with being selected for the party that best reflects said patriarchal society.
On that front, I don’t think affording compensatory traction is any solution. Eventually, if we want an end to all this nonsense, people are going to have to pull or push all the ladders over.
Key is apparently saying McCully will be standing in East Coast Bays. Hopefully that means they are overestimating their actual support (as opposed to the polls) and writing Colin Craycray off.
i wouldn’t get too excited..
..they still have time to pull mccully..before the election..
..should they choose..
..so it’s more a ‘haven’t decided yet’..
“squiggle & rort” opportunity should cease after the Electoral Commission’s forms and ballots print date. Even if McCully is pulled at last minute he will appear on the ballot paper.
craig now may just have to hope there are 5% of the population..who like him..
..believe the moon-landing was shot on a soundstage..just outside of phoenix arizona..
..and that those fellow-deniers will come out on the day and vote for him..
..maybe..with any natty-deal appearing dead..maybe craig should now focus his campaign more on that loony end of town..in search of his 5%..
..billboards with pics of col..
with the legend:..’chem-trails..?..what’s that all about..?..elect me..and i’ll find out..!..vote conservative..!’..
or:..’the moon-landing..?..yeah right..!..i wasn’t there..were you..?..’..vote conservative!’..
(n.b..that latter statement is no flight of fancy on my part..it was actually made by craig..while defending his moon-landing denying..the man is fucken ‘barking’..)
or:..’the tooth-fairy..where did it go..?’..let col look for it..!..vote conservative..!
or..’elvis..is he really dead..?’..let col find him..!..vote conservative..!
That is because they know they are getting epsom for act and ohariu for dunne. See how high up the list goldsmith is, and the invisible nat candidate from ohariu. They dont need colin and his bag of something… The cup of tea has been and gone.
Pictured in yesterday’s Granny Herald online, John Banks, the criminal, ‘allegedly’ driving His car at 100k an hour down the Auckland motorway while using His cellphone,
Why isn’t this man,(snigger),obviously showing every sign of being a danger to the public and a serial offender, under constant police surveillance…
Photographed by someone connected to someone in Labour… Was the photographer taking a photo while driving at speed? I am no Banks fan but found the story churlish and a waste of time
I thought the photographer was a passenger – Banks could have been speeding past.
Edit – the article doesn’t say whether or not the photographer was in a car.
Well, we assume they were a passenger dont we, i didnt think the article stated BUT of all things to highlight?
banks doesn’t have to worry..
..even if found guilty..he wd get a discharge without conviction..
..’cos he has ‘connections’..
That photograph, unless it has been loaded as a mirror image, looks as if Banks was a passenger in the car and the person taking the photo was on the drivers side.
Banks appears, from the shadow on his body to be on the LEFT hand side of the car.
The photographer appears to be on the RIGHT hand side. He could be, conceivably, be in the back seat of course.
The last time I looked the steering wheel in my car was on the right.
Looks like an own goal by a Labour party stooge to me. The person taking the photo looks to be lying.
Yeah, nice try. Your attempt to excuse the criminal John Banks would be a teeny weeny bit more believable if there was an actual alternative driver to be seen. Look at the steering wheel … wheeee, no hands!
Can you see the bottom of the wheel? I certainly can’t. I can only see the top half in that photo and it is quite normal to drive a car with one’s hands on the bottom half of the wheel you know.
Alternatively can you see either of John Banks’ hands? By your logic if one can’t see them they don’t exist. TRP obviously thinks that John doesn’t have any hands.
He must have been a very knowledgeable car enthusiast by the way. I’m prepared to believe he could read the back f the car when he caught up so he could tell it was a C63 AMG model Merc but you would have to be very good to be able to tell it was a 2011 model. Me-thinks he has been obsessed with Banks and follows his life story very closely to know he owns a 2011 model. Could we have a John Banks stalker on the loose?
Yeah, you’re right. It is quite normal to for the driver to have their hands on the bottom of the steering wheel. If they’re a fucken idiot. Still, to back up your story, John Banks has just released a press statement denying he was the driver and, oh, wait a minute … no, no he hasn’t. My mistake.
“Spurdle was a passenger when he took the photo of Banks, who was driving a Mercedes AMG C63 2011 model.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11299739
Ah, i read it in the Sst not the herald.
I couldn’t agree more, no surprise that it was the Herald.
A sitting MP breaks the law, albeit a minor traffic one in terms of penalties applied and you see this as a waste of time and churlish Tracey,???
SO, have you perhaps a guide you would care to publish with regards to those who govern us that prescribes what criminal acts should or should not be prosecuted when committed by a Member of the Parliament,
(PS, the pic was taken by a passenger in the car opposite)…
Perhaps you missed his resignation from parliament. He is not a sitting MP.
I wont publish a guide, I just dont agree with you and the SST ranking of this issue amongst those I consider are hurting kiwis today.
Lolz indeed, i had Totally forgotten Banks having fallen on His toothbrush, However, if the link below is to be believed,(i thought the Law outlawing cellphone use was brought into force in 2004),Banks as an MP was directly involved in voting in this particular Legislation which He was pictured (allegedly) ignoring,
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/cell-phone-use-putting-road-users-risk
The fact is IF what is alleged is found to be fact it would show that Banks is a serial offender using mobile phones in a dangerous manner with callous disregard for the safety of others and that previous leniency at sentencing has not altered Banks’s behavior…
It does re-enforce the public’s perception that Banks is/was a personage of public importance who feels unbound by the laws of the land.
Now, I reckon just about everyone here would have used a cellphone while driving in the last 18 months, or not come to a complete stop at a stop sign, or ducked into a bus lane when we shouldn’t have (all of which carry the same penalty), but we are not/were not personages of public importance.
When we do it, it’s not a story, but when he does it, it is.
Nope, i plead not guilty, i have never, while the driver of a vehicle used a mobile phone while the vehicle is in motion,
In fact, unless i know that the phone will be necessary to use as a tool when i get to my destination it stays at home,
i do not see anything of such importance occurring in the time it takes to get from A to B that necessitates carrying such a tracking device on my person at the times i am on the roam…
And you set a fine example. I tend to lose work if I don’t answer, or call back asap at least (I do pull over to do this of course). Food on the table, etc.
So get yourself a hands free set Weepu’s beard. There’ll be no food on the table if you end up dead because you decide to take a call changing lanes at 100kph on the motorway. Think about it.
Plus one
absolutely! & stopping at a stop sign takes 1 or seconds, whats the freekin’ rush.
“Now, I reckon just about everyone here would have used a cellphone while driving in the last 18 months……….”
Hell no Weepus beard! Not using your cell phone while driving is law for good reason. It is highly distracting and very dangerous. People have lost their lives because of stupid irresponsible fuckers using their phones, texting or talking.
No matter who does it IS important, whether it’s Banks or you. Anyone can take another’s life by being an idiot and using their phone while driving.
Why do we have this careless “road rules are made to be broken” attitude in our country? Like our approach to H&S in the workplace, we sure do have some serious “she’ll be right” perceptions to correct.
Geez.
He was a passenger in the car in the other car.
Apologies. I thought i had read the article in SST. I hadnt cos they didnt carry it.
If we want iphones and ipads Nick Smith says we must have poorer water quality.
“Association of Freshwater Anglers president David Haynes, who was at the meeting, said Dr Smith was bullying the Fish and Game councillors in a clear attempt to stop it carrying out its statutory role to advocate for water quality.”
“He said the minister indicated he wanted to “tweak” Fish and Game because its advocacy for clean rivers was standing in the way of economic growth.”
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/television-new-zealand-calling-to-have-mike-hosking-dropped-from-moderatingthe-political-debates#share
I still think it is worth collecting signatures for this. Please sign and pass on if you havent already.
Currently signatures around 4221 (approx).
have you read don quixote..?..there..anker..?
Maybe it will also set up a quick and effective means of protest phillip.
I can never think of Mike Hoskings apart from being the “fruit and vege man”…he used to report early morning on the quality and quantity of fruit and veges in the market…He was very good!…i was almost persuaded to eat more fruit and veges
i think he is a turnip head with rodent teeth
Turnip Head with rodent teeth – Hmm, that sounds like Worzel Gummidge too!
Is New Zealand at war at the moment?
there are muslims being called from New Zealand to fight their holy war
and
there are jews being called from New Zealand to fight their jihad
Our government permits one of these types to be killed by the US government. So, are we at war? It feels as close as one can get before a declaration.
we have been ‘at war’ since clark/goff signed us up for the invasion/occupation of afghanistan..
..we are eager spear-carriers in americas’ long-war…
(this has long been our role/place in the world..first for britain..and now for america..)
..and we are now a vassal-state of america..(as we were once a vassal-state for britain..until they told us to just piss-off!..(what world wars sacrifices..?..)
..and as the snowden/greenwald/dotcom data/secrets-drop will clearly show..
..that is how they view/treat us..
..any ideas of our sovereignty as a nation are just a joke..to america..
..and we need to take our country back..
“we have been ‘at war’ since clark/goff signed us up for the invasion/occupation of afghanistan..”
Citation required.
brain required..
(mind-achingly-stupid-retort-award shortlist..?..)
..you clearly can’t walk and chew gum at the same time..
(..need a ‘citation’ for that..?..)
Not even a link for that statement, Philip?
If you can’t find a parliamentary edict, “We have been at war” should still have made the headlines somewhere.
Emotional and sloppy PU.
D-
the sun comes up 2morrow..
..need a fucken citation for that..?
..and apologies for my slip there..
..for engaging..
..back on just-ignore! ya go..!
“.back on just-ignore! ya go..!”
The tool of the beaten.
“need a fucken citation for that..?”
That NZ is at war or has had war declared upon it, most definitely.
If you can’t provide one, no worries, we’ll just call it a urism from now on.
The end of Phillips latest could just as easily be read as: ”Back into ignorance He goes”…
To look for a pointy stick of his own. 😉
Knitting needles poised….
…at least Helen Clark kept New Zealand out of the false trumped up war against Iraq and gave short shift to the Israelis who tried to steal the passports of dead New Zealand children…i think she made enemies for these actions
She did have some great moments as PM.
Following your logic we “allowed” Hamas to kill the New Zealander that was fighting with the Israeli military in Gaza.
The inter-tribal fighting of semites should hardly concern us. The children of Isaac and Ishmael need to sort out their issues. They seem to have problems with Loving their Neighbour.
Let them go and fight. The military experience they gain overseas will be vital to the improvement of our forces back home, if they return.
Of course, those returning home, harbouring desires of insurrection against our legally appointed government ought to face the scaffold or the firing squad.
Bryce Johnson Chief Executive of Fish and Game has just said on Nine to Noon that Nick Smith’s attack on Fish and Game has done irreparable damage to the relationship between F and G and the minister.
I loved the tweet at the end of Morning Report that said something like “I’m going to tell all my friends to throw away their fishing rods and buy tablets and laptops so they can have some real fun”*
*This was in reference to Smith saying at a recent F and G meeting he was invited to that F and G’s stance on supporting clean lakes and rivers was damaging economic growth
The interviews of F and G people on Morning Report before 8am and then Smith in poor effort at damage control after 8am well worth a listen.
Typical of National Party people – all about the money and “winning”. It doesn’t matter if you have to lie and cheat, or shit in the rivers, just as long as you “win”
What a loser Nick Smith is.
He has in fact inadvertently just laid out a catch-phrase in the war on farming greed. “What do you want for your children? Laptops and iphones, or swimming and fishing in rivers? This is the choice Nick Smith gives you”
He has made the issue as clear as it can be
+1 vto. Cunliffe should be seen fishing ASAP
Comment of the day for me, just make sure hes trout fishing, those snappers are perilous to political careers
I can see why Smith packed such an insincere howly-bag over it. His bullying arrogance is very damaging to the National vote among the outdoorsy types. I expect they’ll move more to the Greens than Labour.
I have seen a photo of him with a salmon he caught when his father died, so he does know how to catch fish.
That’s the choice that National gives you and along with that ‘choice’ comes the elimination of life on Earth one as well.
National: Fucking over NZ so that a few people can get a lot of money – until we’ve destroyed all life on Earth.
The Children of Tomorrow will receive their orders on iPads and Tablets.
These orders will of course include the cleaning of our rivers, the repopulating of our fish, and the reporting to the Authorities of the Environmental Despoilers that would damage the Green Earth God gave us. The same despoilers that run amok at this very moment, comrades.
Fear not, the future is bright.
….and the interview with Bryce Johnson on Nine to Noon at about 9.08am is priceless and a must listen.
OK, ok – here it is. Yes it is worth listening to.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20143329/fish-and-game-says-conservation-minister-did-pressure-them-to-tone-down-environmental-stance
And here are the Morning Report related bits
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20143303/minister-accused-of-interference-with-fish-and-game
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20143318/nick-smith-responds-to-fish-and-game-accusations
And there it is – that word that one must always be very wary of as it mean nothing of its definition when used by far right politicians.
The word is “balance”
“Balance” is always tossed around as an excuse to grab more. It is used by the greedy.
“Balance” was used when the Rakaia Conservation Order was put in place. “Balance” was used when the Rakaia Conservation Order was amended.
“Balance” is a word for greed.
Nick Smith says to Fish and Game, change your tune or we will take you out.
David Carter said to various Councils, change your tune or we will take you out like we did Ecan.
Bullies.
And Nick Smith just admitted failure…..
He states that he has been working for clean water pretty much his entire career…. so how is the result then Nick Smith? Looks like you have spectacularly failed doesn’t it.
xox
Nick Smith told me in a public meeting on transport issues that cyclists don’t get considered in policy as they don’t pay road user tax! Stand up comedy awaits you Nick.
Some things hotting up this morning. On Radionz Dr Nick Smith and Fish and Game. What a mendacious character Nick Smith is. Threatening, bullying, crowing about being responsible for water for six years and working hard, which raises the question why is it still so bad. Warning Fish and Game to be smarter themselves and stick to fresh water advocacy and not say anything about causes of pollution, ie dairy. Being careful with words, not mentioning pollution. F&G have put up billboards about water quality.
The government doesn’t like any entity that it funds to do any advocacy, it is out for social causes now the environmental ones are being told how to do their job set under legislation. Nick Smith mentioned that he was likely to tweak the legislation under which F&G operate, but says its about a number of matters such as the ability to get licences using technology etc. Observers at the meeting said it actually sounded like a threat to diminish F&Gs role and freedom to operate as at present and probably their funding.
And Smith disagreed with that understanding. He denied that intention and quoted the authority of a ‘neutral’ civil servant who took notes on the meeting that differ from accusations about what he said. And he is going to sue the critics for misrepresenting him.
Also this morning, scientists criticising the way that the government is trying to direct science in exactly the way that suits the sitting government’s interests. Which scientists say will be incredibly limiting on the range and options for them. No they are not says also slimy Joyce.
And tourist drones introduced, offering free pics to tourists which it is stated will be a way of getting our lovely scenery to the golden masses overseas. And a good way of providing and spying options seducing people that they are great. And invasive they will be, because there is so much enthusiasm for them from business and people who love tech. They are going to be used extensively in agriculture as the robotised farm replaces our people-run, human populated major industry. Our laissez faire government won’t properly control them and limit them to surveying dangerous areas where robotised machinery comes into its own.
And criticism of tech in schools, expensive additions for little cost-benefit.
Life is never dull. Subtle ancient curse is ‘May you live in interesting times’.
“events dear boy events”.
Smith’s perpetual greenwashing has been getting on my nerves and now he shows his true colours.
If Labour and the Greens don’t get some votes out of Smith’s disaster I would be very surprised.
Get that fishing rod out DC.
@ Bearded Git 9.38
I just remembered that Old Nick referred to his NACT government being ‘blue-green’. So you are wrong to say that he has been green-washing and he may sue you for that.
The actual name of the shade is cyan which is used in cyanide and that is what NZ will receive if they allow NACTs back into government. (This assertion is entirely unsubstantiated and unchecked for fact, ie political.) e&oe /sarc
Matthew Hooton saying how volatile Nick Smith and he has a PHd in geology or something which is to study rocks. Perhaps he should study his head! Then says that its okay to have pollution because that happens to all countries as they industrialise but then they get wealthy and can clean up!!!! Just about fell off my chair.
First we haven’t industrialised? If we didn’t, haven’t it’s too late now the way that NACTs are running the country backwards to agricultural dependencey. (Can someone rewind that film before they have the next showing!) And we are never going to get wealthy, again because of how the country and its finances are run, so we can never clean up. Publicly we should have minimum taxes if the NACTs have their way and there will not be enough for reparations to the environment, and privately the wealthy will just shift their interest and money to a nicer environment, personally and pursely.
Cunliffe’s incompetence and poor old Shearer never got a fair go and was polling better from Hooton. The Wormtongue.
Mike Williams says that there is a risk for the government which can appear arrogant.
And that goes for Nick Smith too.
The article about fudging numbers to get a surplus will raise the eyebrows of a fewxless than die hard right voters who vote national cos of how they are perceived to be handling the economy
Severely pissed off when I heard it this morning. Scientists say one thing. Minister says the opposite. WTF
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20143309/scientists-say-national-science-challenges-waste-of-time,-money
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20143322/government-defends-national-science-challenges
Just another way for this anti-science mob to cut research grants and squeeze out pure science in favour of tax breaks for their mates
And the Fish & Game stuff (see other thread)
54 men and 21 women in the Nats list-not a good look. The Nats chairman argues that democracy meant there were so few women on the list. Female voters take note. See:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11300046
the dirty filthy Herald runs a puff piece on a dead Israeli soldier because of his “Kiwi” links, well what about a story on thousands of dead, injured and de housed Palestinian civilians who also have links–to the HUMAN RACE?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11300048
The same Palestinians that fed their children vile television programs and propaganda, stories of revenge and recapturing of a land lost.
Side not with either of the Semitic tribes, friends. They will sort out their issues in time. The sons of Ishmael, the disparate lot that they are need to learn the value of unity. The Esteemed brothers of the Ummah even now gather their people, and purge the ranks of Wreckers and Obstructionists. If only we were as brave, as committed to the future of our people as they.
The sons of Issac have abandoned their Torah, and the God that feeds them. Leave the re-education of the sons of Issac to ISIS. Any of you who know of the defiling of the Daughters of Israel – the scantily clad IDF photos, the “Dead Sea Salt” girls that infest our malls, will know some Sharia Law will do them good.
We must save our energy for the repair of our own broken country and people.
“Leave the re-education of the sons of Issac to ISIS. Any of you who know of the defiling of the Daughters of Israel – the scantily clad IDF photos, the “Dead Sea Salt” girls that infest our malls, will know some Sharia Law will do them good.”
🙄
Very powerful stuff on Gaza here.
+100 Bearded Git
Very powerful pictures here too….says it all …crimes against humanity!
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/eight-hundred-dead-palestinians-but-israel-has-impunity-9629726.html
and an Israeli on the brink of burning her Passport
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-im-on-the-brink-of-burning-my-israeli-passport-9600165.html
I think Israel has the right to defend itself against rocket attacks and tunnels infiltrating its terrirotry. Hamas are no sweeties.
It is unfortunate that there a civilian casualties but that is what occurs in urban battle fields and with the destabilising global population explosion and megapolises we are going to see a lot more of it.
Meanwhile ISIS is literally CRUCIFYING prisoners of war or BEHEADING them and putting their heads on sticks or with a head in each hand and big toothy smiles for photos. Yet there is no Left march down Queen St expressing condemnation of these atrocities or burning ISIS flags or demanding the world do more to stop them.
Whataboutery, bro.
You’re defending the shelling of civilians, including children and apartheid. That makes you evil.
Actually your defending the shelling of civilians , including children re: Hamas so guess that makes you evil according to your logic.
I must have missed the bit where I did that in my post. Can you point it out?
Racist.
Are you the one who has been writing Cunliffes speeches? It would explain a lot.
Tom’s point stands. You lied about what he’d said, then you pretended your lie was true, then you acted all morally outraged. It’s transparent and tiresome and we get it a lot around here.
I doubt even the Israelis have sunk so low they’re prepared to use ISIL as some sort of ethical benchmark, but not you.
Tom obviously doesn’t think Israel should move against Hamas to destroy their tunnels and rocket attacks. therefore he is defending the actions of Hamas, he certainly has taken the ample opportunity to condemn Hamas actions against Israel civilians.
Again ISIS is way more problematic but it seems the West can’t even face it.
Off you go then, organise a march against ISIS. Every Hasbara troll from both sewers will no doubt join you. Before you demand that we do something, you really need to be doing something yourself. Moran.
And the israeli blockades… And the difficulty even in non war times ogf getting goods in and out of gaza cos of hold ups by the israelis.
Leave a people with nothing left to lose and they dig tunnels
Leave the re-education of the Wicked Israelis to the Esteemed Brothers of the Muslim Ummah.
Jews have always done better within Muslim Majority countries. I fear their exposure to the ways of the Imperialist Crusaders has tainted them. Lets hope it is not irreversible.
Only our friends in ISIS have the necessary fortitude and perseverance to cover the Holy Land in the safety of Sharia, and return the Jews to their God and the Torah of Moses.
I called act child, but I repick fuckstick.
If you have a dog in this fight, I whole heartedly encourage you to take up your rifle, fly to the middle east, and fight for your team.
When you return, you will be able to pass on what you have learned during your military service to our own warriors.
When I see fighting dogs, I leave them to it, like the mongrels they are.
That and wait for a victor then kick seven bells out of it for disturbing the peace.
Keep your brotherhood in arms bullshit to yourself, funny man.
Indeed, you must be a fierce warrior, and valiant brave, with words such as those.
Unbeaten and never had to threaten women and girls with inhuman sharia law.
Not only does that make me hard as fuck, but a step up, or several, on what passes as a bloke from the cowardly shit stinking hole you crawled out from.
Now unless you have something worthwhile for me, do one.
Your Islamophobia is chilling, friend.
You wrote
“Leave the re-education of the sons of Issac to ISIS. Any of you who know of the defiling of the Daughters of Israel – the scantily clad IDF photos, the “Dead Sea Salt” girls that infest our malls, will know some Sharia Law will do them good.”
And I replied
“and never had to threaten women and girls with inhuman sharia law.”
Nothing phobic about that, it’s a realism. The cowardly shit bit, just icing on the cake.
Religious nutjobs (of whatever persuasion) never see the wood for the trees – They’re too busy making crosses to crucify themselves or stoking fires to burn martyrs.
Our Glorious Leader, John Key, is both a Committed Communist and Christian.
He is concerned of course with Gaza, and has said a two state solution is the ideal answer.
But do you think the wicked of either side will accept this?
No, they will not, and they will continue to kill women and children. These Demons will continue to sacrifice Children to Molech, which the God of Abraham, the God of the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims abhores. Canaanites, hiding amongst the Israelis and Palestinians.
Our Leader knows the only way for them to live side by side would be for a strict discipline to be brought down on both states. A embracing theology that did not allow one to harm the other. An Abrahamic religion that prevented the sacrifice of children.
The Ummah. The Body of Islam.
Our leader is not a foolish Crusader who seeks to impose Western Imperialism on the Holy Land. Liberal Democracy, that tool of the Capitalist Exploiter, our leader knows is stepped in the blood of Children.
Western Imperialism must end. Put down the Cross, comrade. Love is not enough for our brothers in the Middle East. They need Law.
Long Live Islam!!
Long live the Ummah!!
Long live the Communist International!!
If the material isn’t funny, the crowd’s not buying into it and you see tumbleweeds blowing across the stage – Don’t make eye contact, sideways shuffle stage right and hope nobody got it on camera phone.
As radio rental as they come, I fear.
Unlike the bourgeoise, a communist does not idealise humour.
His goal is only service to working class.
Good luck with your “routine”. I hope you get the laughs you are looking for.
You’re as much a communist, mental mullah as you are a funny man comic.
I guessed correct second time of asking 😉
Live long and prosper, nugget.
Such rudeness from the Petite Bourgeoisie. What else was I to expect? The privileged do not give up their privileges readily.
I am reminded of a quote by Mussolini.
“Every anarchist is a baffled dictator.”
“Such rudeness”
I’ll be sure to pass on your sensitivity to those dead sea salt girls you want to be left to isis to sort out. Double standards, I shit ’em. Tardo.
Biggest laugh is your use of Bourgeoisie. If it’s to be a put down, it has to believable to be effective.
This certainly doesn’t describe me, not even close.
“the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.”
” the capitalist class who own most of society’s wealth and means of production”
Now sort your shit out and work out how to maximise an angle of attack that not only scores on a direct hit, but cuts at tangents to the main target for maximum effect.
I don’t think you have it in you, but set goals and you never know.
You win. Talking to you is tiring.
It appears that the wise leaders of this board do not censor personal attacks. It appears they let anarchy, and thus the most abusive reign.
You obviously don’t care that the Daughters of Israel are allowed to debase both their military, or themselves, with lewdess, or themselves by washing the unclean hands of foreigners.
To you this is glorious “Liberty”.
—
Leviticus 19:29
Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.
—
You no doubt are yet another Anti Semite, that rejoices in the destruction of Israel.
I leave you to your small kingdom.
“It appears that the wise leaders of this board do not censor personal attacks. It appears they let anarchy, and thus the most abusive reign.
I leave you to your small kingdom.”
You had a good run as far as offensive pish goes. Channeling honour killings, subjugation and abusive treatment of women and the like. Dry your eyes bruv.
But to be fair, if you go on like that in public, especially around centered, balanced New Zealanders, I bet you’re well use to personal attacks, it’s a bit unfair to single me out.
Beneficiary, our working class has been exported. It is the correct word for you.
We are all live upon the backs of the third world. Even a beneficiary in our country is a Petite Bourgeoisie.
The third world is our working class.
The lack of any understanding of Communism on this board is understandable, with the Capitalist propaganda you have consumed your whole lives.
These continual attacks on Islam are disgraceful.
“You no doubt are yet another Anti Semite, that rejoices in the destruction of Israel.”
Make your mind up. It was only a few minutes ago I was muslimaphobic.
Are you losing focus?
One can be both Anti Semitic and Anti Muslim. A White Supremacist may hold both views. Not that you are, please don’t get upset by this comment, I give this only as an example.
The two religions are far more similar than most people think. Both prescribe stoning of adulterers and sodomites. Both prescribe the whipping of whores and fornicators.
Your repulsion, and outright rejection of Islam as a solution to a seeming impasse, and periodic slaughter of children is sad. If the Jews will not obey their God, then surely Islam is a close second.
Atheists are never much fun to talk to. I do appreciate now though that you have reduced your vitriol, and begun to argue.
Ad Hominem helps no one.
If you think the answer is sharia law, and the women of israel and palestine paying a disproportionate price for peace, then you are asking the wrong question.
But ultimately, you as contributor, are damned to me by comments made about homosexuality and calling it a perversion to minors.
How can I take you seriously when you are so flawed? That’s rhetorical by the way.
I defer to both the Torah of Moses and the leadership of Stalin on this one.
From the Huffington Post, no less.
The White man’s cult of phallus worship.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-strange-strange-story_b_136697.html
right then im off to Ireland to shoot some Catholics
you know battle of the boyne and all that
Our queen has only just made a shaky peace with the Catholics. To cause grief on behalf of Mother England would be a terrible, and treasonous thing to do.
traitorous wench that queen !
allthough what would you expect from a reptilian shapeshifter right Mike ?
Better take plenty of ammo, you know how they breed.
There’s enough fighting going on already.
With an exceptionally skewed kill ratio: one side had multiple city blocks tunred into rubble and hundreds of deaths, the other side makes it a spectator sport.
This one Mike is i assume intended as a joke, it sails way too close to the edge of encouraging criminal behavior for comfort,(your comfort that is),
You obviously have no dog in that particular fight then???…
We have a duty to the land we have been allotted to, and our leaders.
Last I checked, we do not live in Israel or Palestine, and neither are our leaders Israelis or Palestinians.
“We have a duty to the land we have been allotted to, and our leaders.”
Gullible and easily led much?
Speak for yourself, patsy.
Mike, you might want to try and disguise all of this with a series of unneeded punctuation marks of various character, your efforts so far tonight make Phillip’s daily contribution look like the musings of one touched by God, as opposed to simply being touched in the head which is the impression you are generating…
“one touched by God, as opposed to simply being touched in the head”
I laughed.
Ones touched in the head have been touched by God.
To those we give our love and respect.
Lolz, i put my knitting needle away for the night…
Perhaps you are correct bad12 on the legality of my comment. I take that comment back, the one suggesting Al1en go and fight. My personal dislike of this poster got the better of my judgement.
I stick with our Leader, John Key, and his decision that we do not involve ourselves. I appologise Al1en, you were correct to Respect the wishes of our leader, and I was wrong to challenge him.
Our Leader has wisely pledged $250,000 to help the Palestinian cause.
🙄 i think Mike that you have been engaging here in the vein of a massive piss take for the past couple of days,
Either that or you have a prior diagnosis as a bi-polar personality?, or better/worse depending upon how you view such diagnosis,
Your latest effort would suggest a bit of both…
I am most sincere in my views.
Only on the internet may I profess my affection for Communism. In this politically correct society, guardians of licentiousness, the “Right” and “Left” wing would never allow such discussion.
Sadly, as Cam Slater is the Guardian of the right, it appears there are plenty willing to do so for the Left.
Communists should always be gracious in defeat, so I leave you both with this.
If not Islam, what kind of strict moral code, preventing Hate Speech and hateful education would allow the Israeli’s and Palestinians to live side by side? Who could administer this law so that these seemingly eternal hatreds can be put to rest?
Perhaps the United Nations could create for them both a legal code. A strict code preventing any dissemination of hatred for the other side, and enforced tolerance for each other.
The Jewish Bible and the Koran both insist upon eradication of the other. Thus, peace is never going to be possible.
It does not need to be Islam that be the moral code that they share, but it needs to be strict.
That Mike has all the gravitas of a fully inflated balloon, its neck held in such a fashion so as to recreate an elongated representation of flatulence,
Had you not made the series of previous comments that are exhibited here tonight the comment may have held its argument to be valid,
Read in conjunction as the finale to the series tho it is in fact an even bigger piss take,(off you go now for a communion with Cam-puke),
i would suggest re: the State of Israel that an exodus of a Biblical scale will, when the Shia and Sunni have finally settled that particular blood feud, be the ultimate result,
The US are, as is the House of Saud, aware of this little nicety which is why they keep all sides in the conflict armed, albeit with glaring disparities…
An interview with Yuval Diskin, a former Shin Bet head. He isn’t hopeful and makes it clear who he thinks is responsible for the ongoing situation.
But Netanyahu has made the invocation of an existential threat from Iran into his mantra, it is almost messianic. And of course he has derived political profit from it. It is much easier to create consensus about the Iranian existential threat than about an agreement with the Palestinians. Because there, Netanyahu has a problem with his electorate.
[…]
There are plenty of people within Shin Bet, Mossad and the army who think like I do. But in another five years, we will be very lonely people. Because the number of religious Zionists in positions of political power and in the military is continually growing
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-former-israeli-security-chief-yuval-diskin-a-982094.html
Diskin had this to say too..
the rapid deterioration we’re experiencing in the security situation did not come because of the vile murder of Naftali, Eyal and Gil-Ad, may their memories be blessed. The deterioration is first and foremost a result of the illusion that the government’s inaction on every front can actually freeze the situation in place, the illusion that “price tag” is simply a few slogans on the wall and not pure racism, the illusion that everything can be solved with a little more force, the illusion that the Palestinians will accept everything that’s done in the West Bank and won’t respond despite the rage and frustration and the worsening economic situation, the illusion that the international community won’t impose sanctions on us, that the Arab citizens of Israel won’t take to the streets at the end of the day because of the lack of care for their problems, and that the Israeli public will continue submissively to accept the government’s helplessness in dealing with the social gaps that its policies have created and are worsening, while corruption continues to poison everything good, and so on and so on.
http://blogs.forward.com/jj-goldberg/201468/ex-shin-bet-chief-israeli-illusions-fueled-blowup/
Problem is the Palestinians and Arabs are breeding at a far greater rate than Israeli Jews, just take a look at all the footage coming out of Gaza, kids all over the place. Maybe if the Israelis dropped free contraception instead of bombs they might achieve more for Israeli security in the long run?
Problem is that the Israeli arabs have made Gaza the world’s largest prison for the Palestinian arabs.
They should be ashamed
Gaza is a walled in ghetto where indigenous natives are surrounded by razor wire, mines and occupation force guard posts controlling all entry points and exit points.
Not a good look for the Jewish state which once upon a time vowed “never again.”
I don’t get the whole Israeli Arab thing. They don’t have any real power right, after all the Jews must be highly suspicious and paranoid about them.
the point was silverbullet that the Palestinians are arabs and the Israelis are arabs. There is no jewish race – they are fellow arabs.
Jews are not Arabs, they share Semitic ancestory with some of them. Definitely would not call them “fellows”.
And there are actual Israeli Arabs, they get to vote but otherwise seem like 2nd class citizens, population wise they are growing at a faster rate than Israeli Jews.
If Israel want Gazans to have fewer children, the formula is easy. Improve their living circumstances instead of bombing their infrastructure back to the stone age, let them have jobs and an economy instead of 40% unemployment and a near total embargo, support their education instead of shelling their schools and universities.
I get the impression Israel doesn’t want Gazians full stop.
@Allen
It’s very hard to leave devils that spread muck on line, alone. But why encourage Mike Allen? Nobody replying to their diseased-mind utterances is an effective rebuttal. Why not try it instead of relighting the touchpaper on the rocket? I
t makes me sick to read the crap coming out of some of these people’s minds. It shouldn’t be encouraged once it is recognised for the crazy mix of slogans, racism, vilification and hate transference that is being spouted. It’s as unpleasant to read as vomit is to smell and impossible to completely clean – the memory remains.
From my wireless, RadioNZ Natioanl News @ 10.00am, Did i here that right???, Slippery the Prime Minister is said to have confirmed that Murray McCully will not be pulled from the East Coast Bays electorate in favor of Colon the Conservative,
Slippery himself didn’t speak to the piece on the wireless, but, Colon the Conservative was heard bizarrely going wah wah Wah, finishing with a nah,nah,nah,nah nah in the form of ”there were more people at His latest meeting than one held by David Cunliffe somewhere”,
Disappointing really i would have expected Colon to, after having been thwarted in such a fashion, to have declared Jihad or a new Holy War,
Instead what pretty much appears to have been the death notice for the electoral chances of the Conservatives issued by Slippery the PM resulted in a series of dull whines from Craig…
The NZHerald online version confirms the above, aah it’s so great to smell the stench of Colon Craig’s burning millions,(how many million has the plonker wasted so far, 1, 2, 3, 4, million dollars all for nothing, that must be totally Gutting and my attempts to not Laugh out Loud have become an exercise in futility)…
Exactly the same thing will happen to the fat German when he is extradited.
[lprent: Pre-guessing court verdicts is a very bad idea for many reasons.
Expressing them as an assertion is just outright stupidity because what you are effectively doing is to tell a judge what they should do – something that you are clearly incompetent to do. But it is also bad news in many ways. One of them is that I don’t want judges getting pissed off with this site.
If you want to make such assertions then you should express them as your opinion and ideally to explain why you hold that opinion. Never ever demand what a judge will do.
Banned three weeks – one each for stupidity, endangering this site, and bone idle laziness. You should use the time to find out more about how the judiciary actually operates here. ]
Nakahi man, you will have to be far more explanatory in your comments than the latest dribble of drivel…
Oh I think you’ll find $3M to IMP will leave a lasting legacy 😈
Wishful thinking without projections and reinforcing data.
An educated guess based on Laila Harré’s involvement in spending it.
So wishful thinking based on LH involvement, that’s fair enough, but when kdc is extradited and the courts come looking for his loot as compensation, it may not be the end to the dream you’re looking for.
The $3M he gave to IMP isn’t his any more. You seem very optimistic on Hollywood’s behalf.
Optimistic doesn’t come in to it, it’s the reality of the situation, of why kdc is so heavily ‘invested’ in NZ politics right now.
If you believe the gift to the nation guff, then that trumps my realism any day.
The ‘reality’ is that he hasn’t been found guilty of anything in the US. That court case will take years if it goes ahead at all.
A crystal ball you have.
It wasn’t a gift to the nation it was a calculated attack on the National Party. I don’t think much of your ‘realism’.
“A crystal ball you have.
It wasn’t a gift to the nation it was a calculated attack on the National Party.”
There is a recent report where it is stated his gift was to the people of NZ. No crystal balls needed, but google will help find it. Are you saying kdc is a liar and a vindictive schemer?
“I don’t think much of your ‘realism’.”
I don’t expect you too. Al1en I may be, but rooted firmly on planet Terra I am.
‘A gift to the nation’ is a positive spin on ‘a calculated attack upon the National Party’; well spotted.
Indeed, it depends on how the monies from DotCom to facilitate the electoral efforts of InternetMana were/are treated,
Should part or all of these monies have been wisely invested, the DotCom gift may well keep on giving way past the current election…
… whether he is extradited or not.
Which he will be, by lunch time, if the nats are returned in September.
I’m operating under the assumption that the courts will order his extradition – although that’s by no means a certainty – and I’m idly curious as to which National Party justice minister could make the call without immediate judicial review of their massive conflict of interest.
How about the court saying
‘you have not followed all of our rulings ( re the return of data)
When the court rulings are obeyed we will consider the extradition”
I’m not sure that’s covered by the act. Section 8 may prove problematic to the Crown’s case.
Not necessarily Alien, my understanding of the status of the charges DotCom faces are that the copyright allegations have been ‘stayed’ by the US Court,
As the other charges, Racketeering etc, rely upon the proving of the original allegations of copyright infringement i fail to see how a Court in New Zealand can do anything but dismiss the extradition request from the US, or, likewise ‘stay’ such a request until such time the US proves to the Court here in New Zealand that a prima- facie case exists to support the Racketeering/Money Laundering allegations,
Without having an actual ‘live’ case to support the original copyright infringements i would suggest makes the above impossible as charges of Racketeering/Money Laundering must by definition derive from some other illegal/illicit action…
Mega has loads of copyrighted material for illegal download right now.
Make the most of it while you can, it won’t last.
I could, but won’t, provide links as proof. I don’t want to appear in court as the star witness that took down kdc.
1% of the voting population would never forgive me.
So what? Did Mega upload the material, or did their users?
i think you are mistaken in that you describe what you see as copyrighted material as being ”Mega’s”,
It is a fact is it not, that the ‘individuals’ who pay Mega for the right to store material have the legal possession of it,
The same legal niceties can be seen in the operation of any physical storage facility, the owners of such are not responsible for everything stored at such a facility,(unless they knowingly allow illegal items to be stored),
Should those who hold copyright over material stored at the Mega site provide a request along with proof of copyright that such material be removed then i would suggest if such a request were refused a case could be made that Mega were facilitating the use of copyrighted materials to the detriment of those who hold the copyright…
Just saying the stuff is there in kim’s cloud, 100%
And as far as pay to host Bad, according to the recent spat with xero’s boss, less than 1% of users pay to host on mega.
Alien, ”pay to host”, that needs an explanation, what is the difference in ‘pay to store’ and ‘pay to host’ if any…
Host/store I meant it as the same thing.
According to one source, 1% paying customers, 99% with free accounts.
From a bitchy tweet by kdc to the xero bloke.
Mega: 10+m users, 350 gigabit bandwidth utilization.
vs.
Xero: 300k users, 0.5 gigabit bandwidth utilization.
STFU Rod ‘overvalued’ Drury
Alien, a microscope would have been needed to split that particular hair, the difference between paying and not paying to ‘store’ stuff at Mega having no particular bearing on the discussion,
My point being that Mega, as is the case for every other storage facility of the genre, simply provides a storage facility and what users of that facility choose to store there is cannot make Mega culpable unless, as i state above, Mega has been advised of copyrighted material being used/stored at Mega and refuses to remove it,
There is a legal argument that could be made that whomever owns the copyright should be pursuing the person(s) who store the material and not the storage facility,(Mega)…
Seeing the bold type above.
In relation to “Which he will be, by lunch time, if the nats are returned in September.”
My opinion based on the aggressive nature of the copyright holders in bringing cases for breaches in the past.
And the nats will just want rid.
The court will set the timetable, not Hollywood, not the government.
OAB re IMP-I saw KDC on tv a few days ago saying he was now spending $4 million.
He must be enjoying the campaign.
Where unsold cars go to die !
http://www.vincelewis.net/unsoldcars.html
luxury car sales are going up though (of course)
Please note that wealthy people are still buying McLaren, Zonda, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, Maybach, Rolls-Royce etc in fact sales have shot up 80% in the last few years. But when we are talking about the working class and cars for like 10, 15, 20 and 25 grand the story is different…very different.
Jon Snow on the children of Gaza…http://normanfinkelstein.com/2014/in-praise-of-jon-snow/
I always liked reading Finkelstein over the years, sticking it to the US pro Israeli crowd. But I feel more ambiguous towards the Israel/Palestine issue these days.
Snow states the average age in Gaza is 17. So why are the Palestinians having crazy numbers of kids when their circumstances are already bloody dangerous and miserable. Is it a deliberate ploy to overwhelm the enemy via a population explosion?
Or is it a “ploy” to try live a normal life in abnormal times. You presume no hope remains for a brighter future.
I am very pessimistic about the entire Middle East. Probably about the most nightmarish scenario is taking place right now with ISIS establishing a caliphate and decorating it with crucifixions and beheadings.
I think that maybe Israel is “cleaning house” and getting ready for ISIS which already has 35% of Syria and news every day it has sized more. Will virtually all of Syria besides Damascus fall into ISIS control?
Everyone was waiting for ISIS to attack Baghdad, instead they took all the top notch firepower left when the Iraq army fled and turned again to take Syria – which is probably a way better strategic plan. ISIS are lethal because they are excellent strategists and fanatical. Who would want to go into battle against men who play with decapitated heads during their morning tea break?
Israel clearing out Hamas and debilitating the Palestinian Authority will open the perfect space for something ISIS-like to arise. Even the US military has said so.
CV+100…ever get the feeling that there are fools running the place?
Possibly, but if Israel got the wiff of an ISIS like element ( maybe they already see Hamas like that? ) then they will turn Gaza to dust – and we all know they have the fire power to do it.
The reality is Israel does not want a Palestinian state or Palestinian anything, I think one Israeli politico said the Palestinain could live like dogs until they left.
Maybe international sanctions would work to make the Israelis hold off, the boycott seems to be getting stronger. I guess the idea is a South Africa style demise. Probably the only thing that will make the Israelis back down would be a withdrawal of USA support.
Personally I am glad NZ is far away from the ME shit storm and like most NZers are not amused by Muslim immigrants burning Israeli or US flags on our streets.
@ silverbullet 1.10
Don’t be so painfully thoughtless – can’t you understand human nature at all. The Palestinians probably haven’t or aren’t allowed to use, condoms. They live in severely deprived circumstances where they haven’t much to comfort them. Both Jewish and Muslim religions seem to be patriarchal and male dominated, though the Jewish seem to have become more gender integrated for rights. Having sex daily may be part of the male expectation in these societies, or so I have heard. Births are bound to rise in these circumstances.
lol greywarbler …the Palestinians are not Catholics…ever read anything of Edward Said’s?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Said
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism_(book)
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/sep/26/guardianobituaries.highereducation
the Palestinians are a very sophisticated people
more from Edward Said
Edward Said in search of his homeland of birth Palestine
@ Chooky 7.11
Have you read Souad the story of a Muslim woman. I’d be interested in your opinions about it. And one man who actually isn’t living in Palestine might be thinking and behaving differently to those incarcerated in that Israeli prison.
@ greywarbler
Have you read the critiques of this book?…How true is it exactly?…repressed memory?…horrific burns with no documented evidence? I am not saying crimes against women don’t happen against Palestinian women…. just as they do elsewhere in the world eg India, New Zealand ,Ireland , New York, Israel…but is this one true or is it propaganda?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_Alive
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Books/Historian-challenges-Palestinian-bestseller/2005/04/12/1113251628102.html
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/ttaylor.php?articleid=5801
@ Chooky 10.31
I have accepted it on face value because Souad was helped by an outside group to escape and receive treatment. That group may itself be a falsehood. Because I know that there is very bad treatment of women in a number of countries with old traditional male-dominated class-stratified practices, I did not think of doubting it. I will follow up your links thanks.
It doesn’t change my point as to why the Palestinians should not be criticised for having rising births while in the midst of chaos and cruelty by a vengeful, malicious, dirty-dealing Israeli army government.
Palestinians try to carry on their lives and through continuing to have sex and babies, declare that they are people and defy the Israelis desire for them to go away or be extinguished, leaving their land for occupation.
The Israelis would have to gas them as the Nasties did to them in Germany to get rid of them. The Jewish people would then have had revenge, and gained precious and historical land and perhaps stronger borders against the growing hatred of the Muslim people which they have largely fostered themselves. I do not think that will make happy and satisfied. Indeed if they destroyed Palestine and Palestinians they never could. The shame and infamy would hang over them for ever.
I wonder if they then would ever be able to recover their own souls, after revenging the souls of those poor suffering Jewish prisoners killed so industrially and industriously while Germany went through its own period of madness and psychopathy. It’s a vicious circle that Jews do not seem to recognise. The Israelis are creating and shaping themselves with their own hands and actions, into the style of the images and thoughts expressed in the disgusting propaganda put out against Jews by the Nasties prior to and during WW2.
Are We Having an Election or a Game of Trivial Pursuit?
Instead we’re getting out of context attacks on apologies and bunkum on red scarves.
So school vouchers do produce better outcomes – if you cheat.
/
It’s the darker side of competition that Milton Friedman and his free-market disciples tend to downplay: If parents value high test scores, you can compete for voucher dollars by hiring better teachers and providing a better education—or by going easy in grading national tests. Competition was also meant to discipline government schools by forcing them to up their game to maintain their enrollments, but it may have instead led to a race to the bottom as they too started grading generously to keep their students.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_dismal_science/2014/07/sweden_school_choice_the_country_s_disastrous_experiment_with_milton_friedman.single.html
Report: Germany to reject EU-Canada trade deal
Are any of our politicians able to do the same with regards to the TPPA?
Minarch, I think you may find that those pikkys are fake.
http://jalopnik.com/that-zero-hedge-…hit-1578124255
Or maybe its all true and the Jalopnik link is the fake story?
broken link
can you re-post please ?
Edit: dont worry found it 🙂
Holiday highways for some areas, but Dunedin roads get funding cuts.
Obviously they don’t think Woodhouse has a shot of beating Curran in Dunedin South.
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it. By the time that the funding starts decreasing there won’t be any more building of roads as the cost of driving will be going through the roof and even the RWNJs will start realising how much of a white elephant the Roads of National’s Significance were (They will, of course, blame Labour).
lol
maybe so.
I think SH1 should be upgraded to a dual carriage way like the Auckland Northern Gateway, from Kaitia to Invercargill, plus laterals to provincial centers like New Plymouth and Napier. That’s the kind of transport system a 1st world country has.
frankly a heavy traffic bypass (so that stock trucks and freight don’t go through the middle of town) would be a nice to have.
Every so often someone makes a small mistake that has a massive penalty for failure, usually no fault of the truckie, too.
1st world = rail
declining world = roads (eg USA)
+1
You could run rail down the middle of the expressway.
I support the idea of rail – get more trucks off the road, and tourists would flock to a train ride that took them up and down the country.
But a BASIC spine of high quality motorway is needed. The Auckland Northern Gateway is a PLEASURE to travel – efficient and beautiful.
NB every road you build now will also be virtually unused in 25 years time.
@ colonial viper
I don’t see why there won’t be lots of bikes and bikes-with tow trailer on them.
Motor scooters bikes with electric drive and chargeing batteries while riding etc. It will be busy as…
@silver bullet
A 1st world country? What’s that and where? When you pull off the wrappings of all the 1st world class propaganda, underneath is something pulsing and oozing.
There is something shoddy in the state of Mythmania perhaps more like Gormenghast.
You need to drop the “class” rhetoric, god forbid Cunliffe starts talking “class war” on the leaders debate, Hoskins would have a field day, lol.
Take a look at China and the massive transport infrastructure it has/is building. They understand the need for a high quality transport system to increase standard of living. Of course there are issues of peak oil/peak everything. A report by a scientist claims that Los Angeles can go solar,wind,thermal and tidal power by 2050 and thrive. But maybe the mega drought will get them first?
Cunliffe shouldn’t be talking “class war” at the TV debates, correct. Simple allusions and metaphors around class war will be enough to get the message across.
McFlock
Woodhouse is not going up against Curran. Rather, he is again standing in Dunedin North against Clark – which may be a close run contest if Turei appeals to a lot of erstwhile Labour voters. It’s Hamish Walker in Dunedin South, here’s the Nat press release that Scoop has on him:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1405/S00409/national-selects-hamish-walker-as-dunedin-south-candidate.htm
my bad.
still the road funding doesn’t help him.
Gerry Brownlee issue from last week.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/10308297/CAA-to-investigate-own-ministers-actions
New Zealand regulations say when a person boards a jet-engined plane without being subject to a security check, the plane should be emptied and passengers should pass through security again.
Should not all passengers within the outward bound terminal have to be cleared, as if something untoward was passed on then this could be to a passenger on another flight to another destination ?
sounds logical
the thought of what “untoward” material Gerry Brownlee might pass on to another passenger is a bit eeeew
Forgot to include this should also cover all workers that had been cleared to work in the area. The more I think about it, this breach should have had major extensive implications. If the authorities had acted accordingly think of the disruptions that should have resulted, I would imagine that flights out of Chch would have been delayed for many hours as the authorities reacted as they should have to this security breach. Even if Brownlee gets charged IMO he has been lightly let off.
This as a result of a thoughtless act “He said he did not give it any thought, but has now apologised unreservedly for the action.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11298499
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/250676/highway-%27lacks-economic-analysis%27
Northland businesses are agitating for money to be spent on their minor roads, which are major roads to them. The recent floods showed how unsatisfactory this is. Fonterra couldn’t collect from 200 farms. They are desperate and it may be that old Nat John Carter might have some arm twisting abilities. Something needs to be done. The bloody smart road to Puhoi can wait. The north has always been neglected compared to rest of NZ.
http://transportblog.co.nz/tag/puhoi-wellsford-motorway/
On this map it can be seen that the Puhoi to Warkworth road expenditure is very far south from the needy northern section around Whangarei and to the Far North.
http://www.distancesfrom.com/nz/map-from-auckland-to-Auckland-New-Zealand-via-Whangarei-Kaikohe-Kaikohe-Kerikeri-Kaitaia-Kaikohe-Dar/MapHistory/4070648.aspx
Radionz news –
Northland leaders say huge spend needed on roads ( 3′ 18″ )
17:40 Northland councils and businesses are calling for major spending on the region’s roads.
edited
From Concorde to the iPhone, state intervention drives technological innovation
And when you throw in the fact that it’s the private banks creating the money it gets even worse.
It is, and always has been, the state that produces an ever improving society. The privatised free-market does the exact opposite as we see in the growing inequality and poverty of the last thirty years.
+1
Winston should go stand in Epsom. That would really f*ck the Nats up.
Can’t for the life of me imagine why anyone would vote for hairpiece. Time for a change isn’t it, Karori? Isn’t it? This is the guy who texted Andrea Vance 30 times a day. This is the guy who refused to make legal highs illegal because his son acted for the industry. This is the revenue minister. Has anyone tried dealing with the IRD in a 21st century way? It’s not pretty.
You can do better, Karori.
A Hong Kong woman has been found guilty of being involved in importing amphetamine. She has been sentenced to jail and has to have a non-parole period of 4 years – when she will be deported.
So we are going to punish ourselves with high costs to punish her, and then deport her. How bloody stupid. Is there anyone alive and thinking in government? Pollies have to be more than sentient, they need to think about crime and punishment – the musical perhaps rather than the book.. All singing and dancing taxpayers who want a cost-benefit analysis of what period is a worthwhile punishment. This after preparing systems setting out what is to be done in retraining, discussion about ethical rules in society, an effort to reach any remnants of personal spirit, morality and future goal setting and assistance etc. which would be effective in preventing recidivism and in how short a time. Then release the non-violent ones with reporting to probation officers and with recall possible for serious infringements.
Policy releases from National….
1) the road thingey
2)………….
Nothing else
Just keep on slamming David
Don’t forget electorate gifts to the incest party of Epsom, and to the serial texter party of Karori.
Why does Winston Peters have to be such a not-so-smart dick so much of the time? Just when he is in a position to do something useful for the NZ political system now, he blabs on about how he is too good to have anything to do with MP or Mana because he won’t have a bar of race-based politics.
Oh can it will you Winston. Just shut your gob, work with whomever and help us to get a forward looking, practical, people and SME oriented government, that is if you care about NZ and not just your bloody image being flashed around, getting more double breasted suits and hair grooming products, advancing your own future and getting the dosh.