I’m tired of self-flagellation, so let’s give credit to Joyce and ‘National’ for running an effective campaign.
The branding of Harry Holland in ‘51 is easily demolished – suggesting that the interests of beneficiaries and billionaires are the same.
I noticed a full-size poster at my bus stop saying “The Film Industry Thanks You” featuring a minotaur-like human with horns, what appeared to be unused props, and an attractive young woman facing the camera.
Remembering Weta’s involvement in NZ politics to change industrial legislation, it troubled me.
When I went to take a digital image of it a few days later, it had gone.
Then, at a pre-election candidates forum in Miramar a young intellectual type piped up about the ‘film industry’.
Straws in the wind, perhaps – but I would be interested in any other crowd-sourced observations of the ‘National’ Party campaign
Dear media. The causes of Labour’s election performance are complex and multifaceted. Can you stop treating New Zealanders like a bunch of idiots and start a more complex discussion about what happened?
Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint just now on Radio NZ furnished a nuanced and fair analysis of the election. Pointed to the fact the Labour Party is to the right of Rob Muldoon on economics, in a piece that critiqued the notion of ‘the centre ground’ and how far right it has been pushed.
The left = bad, regardless of facts with the MSM who wag their tails on command as DP has shown. Dumbing down is part of the strategy.
Any who oppose the rights powerful allies such as academics, industry bodies, support groups etc will be smeared, mis represented and outright lied about if thats what it takes.
Failure to deal with this reality and counter it will continue to cost the left dearly as the MSM will continue unaffected as evidence suggests with DPF and Hooten not even having a breather and straight into it again.
Quit living in an ideal construct and figure out how to deal with reality, it aint fair but then life is not fair so why expect it from our corporate and govt owned media.
Any who oppose the rights powerful allies such as academics, industry bodies, support groups etc will be smeared, mis represented and outright lied about if thats what it takes.
And that is exactly what we saw here: DPF attacking an academic with lies.
dead right Mickey. But why oh why are the”media” fueling the “every body for Robertson “campaign.
Because they want a new target for vilification.
The old story
” Lets attack DC because he’s married and got 2 kids… oh wait”.
” Because he’s intelligent and got a Harvard degree and no commercial experience….oh wait”
” Because he lives in a 2 million dollar house in central Auckland…oh shit that’s avg price there”
” Because he comprehensively lost the caucus vote…what? 18-16…bugger”.
” Because he grew up poor and played rugby.. hang on”.
” Fuck it ..OK who’s next”.
Robertson…Oh Yeah, PAYDIRT!
Anyone interested in who benefitted in the SCF was bankrupted and bailed out under Govct guarantee might want to read this. Am I reading correctly — that ACC and Crown Asset Management are deeply involved in this schmozzle ? Registered away from NZ taxes in Caymans ?
And wasn’t George Kerr reported as receiving $100 million of govt guarantee funds from his very belated SCF bond purchases ?
Stinky much ??
“Investors in a secretive private equity partnership are rebelling against its manager, enigmatic Kiwi businessman George Kerr, as scandal threatens to engulf the $240m fund.
The Torchlight Fund, now domiciled in the Cayman Islands, was formed in 2010 to invest in distressed assets such as South Canterbury Finance.
The identity of its partners has never been formally disclosed but Fairfax NZ understands they include New Zealand government entities Crown Asset Management and ACC, whose estimated respective exposures stemming from the South Canterbury collapse are about $30m and $2.5m.”
Not happening under national, move on as they’ve used numbers in the house to defeat an attempt before and will if needed again.
Now of course a high calibre well funded investigative team with a prominent MSM outlet could…..uh oh hang on a tick does anyone else see an issue here.
of course .. but this from the Stuff link I posted offers some little hope .. ASIC not so easily silenced as our msm or sfo …
“On Thursday the Australian Financial Review reported Van Eyk’s Sydney offices had been raided by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as it investigates alleged irregularities at its fund management division.”
This present Government will not want an investigation in to Kerr’s ties with SCF because I bet they invested in Kerr via ACC and NZ Super . Torchlight was formed in June 2009 — just ready for SCF to announce its loss $$$( but underlying profit ) ….
The bigger problem under the GG was not highlighted , follow your noses or google and then you will understand – SCF was small fry as a liability but a goldmine of assets.
$Southbury invested in irrigation infrastructure and by 2009 the present Govt were secretly planning funding on a grand scale of irrigation. Secret cabinet papers were gained by NZ Herald under OIA – showing just that.
Hubbard’s Southbury supported large schemes, Hunter Downs, Central Plains, etc etc … and he was taken out of the picture. By 2012 the Canterbury Irrigation Schemes were worth a reported $5billion to the Canterbury economy alone…
The true value of the Hubbard empire was far in excess of what the paper figures portray and were sold of undervalue in cases that were highlighted to media. Scales a value of $4 a share sold to Direct Capital for $2 – DC sold out 80% for a cool $180million just recently, There are many more and others hide under a cloak of secrecy. Face Finance bought by GE and interestingly it was GE that pulled funding last minute for Helicopters NZ and forced Hubbard in to the breach. They buy FACE Finance and now specialise in aviation and increased their assets by a cool $600million…..
Aorangi was NEVER insolvent – Hubbard placed equity in well above what was required… that has proven to be so based on the managers own reporting and the fact the investors have returned 99% funds less $12 million in fees alone for Aorangi.
Easy to use the media to destroy a man and his reputation – Stat Management is a very dangerous law that is open to political abuse… a court order should have been required – in that case Hubbard would never have been in Stat Management , the $60million so called fraud transaction out was actually the money he put in… the original fact sheet was wrong. When the Regulators realised that mistake (the Stats reversed this transaction out of Aorangi at the start) they should have acknowledged the mistake – they did not , instead continued on as if Hubbard was the thief… and destroyed him along the way with the spin via MSM.
This only touches the surface – it is an absolute shameful event from beginning to end. BUT Allan Hubbard was trialed again with SCF (even when dead and unable to defend himself) and most likely in Oct it will be confirmed to be “All Allan Hubbard’s fault”….
Got a phone call to renew my Labour membership last night at 9.30pm. Had already done so online and told Fraser House as such. Said that I’d rejoined just so I could vote back DC because as a gay man myself, Robertson leaves me cold and I couldn’t see how he could appeal to the redneck rugby playing non urban voters. Coupled with the fact his electorate vote went down, as well as only getting third in the party vote in 2014, how he could claim to represent Labour was unthinkable.
On the bright side, membership is only valid till Dec 31 so if Robertson unfortunately manages to win, at least I don’t need to worry about renewing my membership on Jan 1 2015.
We had booth by booth results available and online within hours of polls closing. Our current paper based system is efficient, traceable, auditable, re-countable.
Can someone please confirm the cut-off date for new members wanting to vote for the Labour party leader. “Keep Cunliffe as Labour Leader” on Facebook is saying it was 11.30pm yesterday. ??? Thanks.
Lurgee, they’re joining up because they genuinely care about the Labour Party and the future wellbeing of New Zealand – and they wholeheartedly believe that David Cunliffe is the best man to take on John Key in 2017, having had the benefit of three more years’ experience.
The Facebook page supporting him has over 4,300 likes already, and it was only set up a week ago.
Surely that’s a good thing, driving up the membership of the Labour Party? Why are they ‘carpetbaggers’ as you suggest, just because this upsetting election loss has motivated ordinary people to act? They’ve realised that if the Labour Party is to survive, they need to get involved as supporters and volunteers.
Shouldn’t the members ultimately determine the future of the Labour Party, and its policies, not the MPs who represent us? That’s why they demanded constitutional changes last year, after decades of being ignored.
I’m entirely in favour of membership choosing the leader. It should, IMHO, be an equal vote. Why should the votes of caucus count for more than the votes of an ordinary member. It’s not a very socialist idea.
But I still find the idea of people joining a party just so they can vote in an election deeply worrying. Obviously, you’ll disagree as the sign ups seem to be favouring Cunliffe and your handle suggests you might be a bit partisan.
I recently read this quote by GB Shaw: “Newspapers are unable to discriminate betweeen a bicycle crash and the collapse of civilization.” Shaw died in 1950 – the media has been a problem for a long time. One of the problems lies in daily publication; it tends toward an ADHD mentality that robs issues of their necessary depth.
We do need publicly funded news media outlets with a robust mandate to not treat the public like idiots. The health of our democracy depends on it. Living in China, and looking at NZ, it’s very clear to me that propaganda does have a power to influence our minds, and the only way to avoid its power is to be seriously paying attention to what’s going on – which no one can do about everythng all the time.
I came across a sharply pixelated example of how propaganda works, in Russell Brown’s Hard News post on Sep 24:
“….Gower’s conduct in the press conference made me uneasy.
He shouted at Cunliffe, a lame-duck leader with no good answers, for the answers he wanted. And then he barked: “Just say it — stop being tricky!”
“Tricky”. It’s hard to over-emphasise quite how loaded that word is. “Tricky David Cunliffe” is an attack line conceived and cultivated by Cunliffe’s National Party opponents over the entire time of his Labour leadership. There can barely be a National minister who hasn’t deployed it: The first few Google results for the phrase turn up Todd McLay, Amy Adams, John Key and, naturally, Whaleoil. Its organised use had a lot to do with shaping the popular perception of Cunliffe. It would not have had meaning without Cunliffe’s missteps, but it was a very successful political strategy.
For these reasons, it’s a line that a journalist simply should not be using.”
And Cunliffe’s reply? …”Nice Try Paddy ” was ok by me but I think the general public would have preferred a ‘Muldoon’ type of reply to Gower’s obnoxious disrespect and egotistical rudeness.
I would have said, “F*ck off Gower you little creep!” but that’s why I wouldn’t make it as a politician or a diplomat.
It’s also an interesting chicken-and-egg situation, since some of Cunliffe’s “missteps” that initially got the idea of trickiness into the mainstream consciousness (e. g. the intial Best Start announcement, the Dongha Liu letter) are only really missteps in the context of the media reaction that was constructed around them.
Yeah but on top of that, he does occasionally drop the ball. Such as setting up a trust to protect the identities of his financial backers or not communicating better with Goff in the 2011 election campaign.
Some think these things are examples of serious character flaws; I don’t. I simply think he’s clumsy sometimes. That clumsiness could become a major liability if he were seeking a third or fourth term as PM, cos you know he’s gonna hand his opponents something they could build a serious attack around. But fuckit, if you obsess too much about the enemy it puts you off your own game.
I hear what you’re saying, but Clark, Goff, Key, English… even Cullen managed to put their feet in it at times. Key’s probably the most clumsy, in fact (“We’d love to see wages drop”, Tranzrail shares, anything to do with the appointment of Ian Fletcher, “That’s one scientists opinion and I could probably find other experts to back up mine”, “Gay red shirt”, “Trotie”… he’s a veritable Mr. Magoo), but it doesn’t count against him. Key has a solid reputation and even a very long string of frequent gaffes doesn’t really seem to have endangered that. Cunliffe, once generally viewed as a person of substance, would also not be damaged by the odd bit of clumsiness.
Key’s gaffes are not seized on by the media.They love ‘gaffes’ by anyone on he left. In their desperation for scandal headlines they salivate, enhance and exaggerate any slight mistake by Cunliffe and gloss over any of Key’s.
Or maybe it’s the editors who are further up the right wing food /money chain do the changes to the journalists original copy giving it a right wing slant.
People are saying a lot of negative stuff about Grant Robertson. I’ve had personal experience of the guy and my impression is that he’s decent, superbrainy and he could be a good leader of the country. While he’s a good public speaker, he aint super-presidential, but then Labour shouldn’t bee seeking to follow the crowd in its approach to politics – that’d be like a good honest family restaurant emulating McDonalds to get more people through the door. You compromise your essential character and you’ll never be McDonands anyway.
Personally I’ve never seen evidence of anything like an ABC faction. A bunch of MPs dislike Cunliffe; that’s life. Some of these MPs have been attacking him through the media in a disgusting, cowardly manner, thereby undermining the party. Even worse, by undermining the party they’re adding to the suffering of the people the party needs to get into power to serve: The quarter of a million kids who live in poverty, low wage workers, the wider precariat, the small businesses who need a supportive policy environment in which to prosper – this is why their actions are decidedly hateful. Personally, I don’t believe there’s a faction, and I don’t believe there’s a conspiracy. I believe there are individuals, some of whom deserve to be evicted from the party they owe their careers to.
I believe that Cunliffe should retain the leadership of the party, though resigning and reapplying for his job after such a poor election result is actually a healthy step. He really does need to seek a new mandate.
If he wins he’s in for another three years of vicious, often nakedly dishonest (in the vein of helping a wifebeater who then gives labour a $100,000 donation that doesn’t exist) attacks by National, aided and abetted by MSM. The only way to avoid that fate would be if he was supported by the media or if he had a Muldoon/Clark type personality. So basically, he can’t avoid that fate. Neither could Robertson. I have to respect these guys for putting their hands up for one of the country’s shittiest jobs.
Back to Grant. New Zealand is a grievously divided country. We need guys like him around to help bring us together – he’s a conciliatory, broad church kind of leader with a deep, genuine sense of empathy. He has made the Wellington Central electorate his own because he’s competent and he impresses the fuck out of people he meets. I certainly believe that identity politics has been a three-plus decade blunder, supported by people who somehow manage to be simultaneously triumphalist and dangerously insecure. Grant supports gay issues, but in no way are his politics narrow, sectional or self-absorbed. If anything, I see him as old school left.
Well said Vaughan.
I don’t see Grant as the enemy of the left, I just do not think he is experienced enough to be the leader of the Labour Party yet.
I agree that whoever gets in will be subject to unrelenting, biased attacks in the MSM, and I am surprised Grant wants to put himself through that.
Nor would I wouldn’t have blamed David for giving up – but I am glad he hasn’t.
..is that robertson is not able to perform in parliament..
..for yrs i have watched various national party entities just wave him away..
..whereas when cunnliffe stands up..
..you can hear a cracking sound as nattys stiffen their spines..
..a reinvigorated left and centre..(as in fix poverty and look after the middle class..i.e. policies that will get the missing million out to the voting booths..and heads-up!..raising the pension age isn’t one of them..
..what is so complicated/difficult about that..?..)
..this re-focused labour..led by cunnliffe..
..is what terrifies the right the most..
..this is why the concerted attack on him by corporate-media..and the abc’ers..
..is so torrid/fervent..
..and this is why they must be ignored..
..it is all fucken spin..
..corporate media and the right..working in concert..
..(i’ll say it for cunnliffe)..’fuck them..!..eh..?..’)
I can go along with most of what you say. Except that word “centre”.
Appealing to the middle. Fuck that, we’re left.
Like Steve Jobs said, don’t worry about giving people what they want, cos by the time you’ve figured out what people want and put it on the market, they’ve moved on. You have to figure out what people want before they know they want it. That’s actually leadership.
We have to be sensitive to the people we’re seeking the privilege of governing, but honestly, we’re the ones who are thinking policy and politics 24/7. We have to do the hard graft of figuring out what policy best suits the country, and then take it to the poeple and communicate our vision to them in a responsive, two-way process.
Simply put, it’s our job to attract the centre leftwards. In a dialectical process.
Only just watched that post caucus video, Far out.
Shearer breaks ranks to talk and causes part of this feeding frenzy and then swans over to New York, plays the outsider and says today ‘oh’ it’s too distracting this leadership talk. I really just wanted to help review what went wrong. Stunning irony.
Hypocrite.
None of the candidates have acknowledged the party members and what they want. “I can unify the party, I can beat Steve Joyce in the house, I was the former leader…”
the failures to achieve are all over the place and none of this is “secure or stable”.
We are a broad church, but I am Labour. Coyle is very unimpressive.
Hipkins: Very impressive. It will be interesting to see where he and Parker go.
If the message Hipkins put forward today came from his senior colleagues then Labour would look like a professional government ready party.
I want to see a room where Robert Reid and Hipkins are in the room and both have got their obvious skills and guns turned on Key and National.
Coyle? Seems poisonous to me. As Robert Reid pointed out criticised the party during an election campaign from the position as its representative on television. Unimpressive.
Reid is right, the liberals and those in working poverty need to find a way to unite. Also like many liberals- just because you grew up in poverty in a much kinder era doesn’t mean you understand what is like there now.
I personally hate liberalism. But have found it easy to work with liberals in Labour. To paraphrase Stanley Hauerwas, the key to building friendship is to find meaningful work to do together. Labour represents nothing if not an opportunity to do meaningful work – to do good for the country, and especially its most vulnerable.
To be honest, I haven’t always found it in myself to refrain from bitching at liberals and their ideological excesses on facebook. I’m not proud of that…
If I was to join the labour party with the intention of voting in the upcoming race how would a new comer filter out the bs and learn the the pro’s Cons of the contenders.
same way you did at the general election. Same way you usually judge people and their intentions. I’m sure there will be a lot of information put forward in the campaign.
Here are the just released details of the Labour Party Review. The two people conducting the review will be announced this coming week. It is proposed to have it largely completed and reported on by December.
The review of the 2014 campaign will include reporting on
• party and electorate vote variance;
• electorate and hub performance, including enrolment, persuasion and turnout;
• the targeting approach;
• list and electorate candidate selection and performance
Looks comprehensive. Result will depend somewhat on the two people conducting the review and who they take submissions from, but I am cautiously hopeful.
My sentiments too Karen.
Just as important is: who will they take submissions from? This, in itself, will give a clue as to how serious they take the review and whether they are conducting it in an objective/inclusive way. For example: if they choose well known Labour members/commentators like Josie Pagani, Deborah Mahuta-Coyle and even Mike Williams, then I will have my doubts as to the authenticity of the review.
* They should also have a look at the delays in finalising policy that were a problem with timing releases.
They often came at awkward times because a policy that was expected would suddenly get bumped. This was apparent in that often the policy would be just a press release and the all important detail didn’t get released until days later. It was also quite evident that there were variants between what people were talking about and the later details.
All signs about late detailing and too many hands involved very late in the process. Policies need to be settled a week or weeks ahead and then have the complete package at release. Otherwise National exploits the holes in MPs understandings
* The campaign was always susceptible to a late interruption because it was designed to come to culmination. It got disrupted by outside events, just as it has been in at least 3 of the last 5 elections.
* Campaigns are 3 years long. Perhaps Labour should start operating as if they are. What you do in the first two years is just as important as the final year especially in terms of getting working teams and systems. That didn’t happen the last term or in the previous one.
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Source: Unknown, twitter user Recently, I wrote a (relatively) short paper titled as above, to explore what self-determination could like in a practical sense. Maybe I’m a bit of an international trade truther or something, but I absolutely believe trade is at the heart of achieving peace and self-determination. Since ...
In the 1960s, after I had graduated with a first-class Oxford postgraduate law degree, I joined the British Foreign Office as the top entrant of my year. There, I worked for a couple of years on European affairs and was eventually posted to the Embassy in Brussels. After this exposure ...
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and ...
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...
West Papua solidarity activists met yesterday and resolved to call on the Prime Minister to step up to help resolve the escalating crisis in West Papua. ...
Landmark Report Released into Maori Aging and Disabilities “Manaaki Pakeke” – New Zealand Maori Council calls for a policy shift and greater focus The New Zealand Maori Council has released a comprehensive policy statement challenging the ...
MANATŪ TAONGA MINISTRY FOR CULTURE AND HERITAGE MEDIA RELEASE 25 August 2019 Privacy breach identified with the Tuia 250 Voyage Trainee website Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage is investigating a serious digital privacy breach involving ...
‘Original Sin’ of Land Confiscation at Ihumātao is a wrong that can be put right by Government says Justice & Peace Commission of Catholic Diocese of Auckland ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference on August 19 that her government is likely to impose new restrictions on prisoners’ rights to send letters. She said the law could be changed in “weeks.” ...
Heart-warming images of House Speaker Trevor Mallard cradling a baby in Parliament have been welcomed around New Zealand, but the Public Service Association warns most families can only dream of such support in the workplace. ...
Applying New Zealand’s international human rights commitments, particularly those in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, can help in resolving the situation at Ihumātao, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt says. ...
Climate campaigners impersonating bank staff have taken to the streets this week to expose ANZ Bank’s sponsorship of the fossil fuel industry. In the series of satirical actions in Wellington, Dunedin, and Auckland, the ‘bank staff’ promoted ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty joins the Children’s Commissioner , The Green Party , The New Zealand Drugs Foundation , Child Poverty Action Group and other organisations in the calls for an immediate end to the drug testing benefit sanctions. ...
Negotiations between Port Otago workers represented by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and management failed today and the unions have issued notice of an overtime ban from Saturday 7th September. ...
Queenstown Lakes District Council’s comments that it has applied for a consent to pollute waterways to avoid 'prosecutions by the Otago Regional Council' are unacceptable,’ Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says. ...
On March 15, the real world impact of online hate became abundantly, horrifically clear. As a shooter opened fire at two Christchurch mosques, the online image board 8chan anticipated, celebrated and amplified his killing spree. ...
Friday, 23 August: Government delegates from around the world, including New Zealand, are meeting in New York for the third of four meetings at the United Nations to agree a Global Oceans Treaty that could help to protect 30% of our oceans by 2030. Greenpeace ...
The excuses about a reportedly unwanted $57,000 payrise for Dunedin City Council CEO Sue Bidrose are laughable, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has launched the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” committing to no more than 2% annual rate hikes over the next Council term, and has written to all Mayoral and Council candidates asking them to sign. The pledge will ...
This Saturday, Pakuranga Hunt Day at the Ellerslie Racecourse will see anti-horse racing protesters demonstrating at the corner of Ascot Avenue and Greenlane East. ...
Mayoral candidate John Tamihere will meet with Pacific Island leaders and community elders today at Puhunui Reserve in South Auckland to commit to a Pasefika Cultural Centre. ...
Cruel and invalid Forced Swim Tests carried out at Victoria University of Wellington, will be exposed at the University Open Day today, so prospective students can be warned about the flawed and unethical research being conducted at the institute. ...
The organiser of the annual YWCA Equal Pay Awards has expressed her disappointment with the latest Gender Pay Gap figure for New Zealand workers. The figure rose slightly from 9.2% in 2018 to 9.3% for the quarter ended 30 June 2019. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to pass on information to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques now that the period for submissions has been extended to 27 September. ...
An application was filed in the Employment Relations Authority in Wellington today, seeking an injunction to prevent the Board of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation from removing the President from office. ...
The Government’s commitment to support literacy and numeracy training in the workplace is a strong signal from Government on recognising the importance of upskilling, reskilling and increasing productivity alongside their commitment to address the challenges ...
“The infrastructure sector sees a major role for the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga in lifting the nation’s sagging infrastructure performance,” says Paul Blair, incoming CEO of Infrastructure NZ. ...
The AA is calling on the Government to bring forward critical highway projects while time is spent properly developing the plans for a rapid transit system in Auckland. ...
Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, DHBs spent $280 million treating patients due to adverse drug reactions, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in its latest briefing paper on health productivity . ...
The Pay Equity Coalition Auckland (PECA) is pleased the gender pay gap has decreased slightly. Statistics released today show the gap is now 11.9%, nearly 2 percent less than last year. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to make sure they pass on any information they have to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques before submissions close tomorrow (Friday). ...
The big electricity companies consider solar energy “disruptive” and want pricing to suppress it. In contrast, advocates of local energy say that solar, energy efficiency, and other local energy solutions are the cheapest ways to reduce carbon emissions. ...
The Earthquake Commission and Shine Lawyers are delighted to announce that EQC has reached an agreement with the Gibling family, agreeing to cover the cost of repairs of remaining earthquake damage on their property. ...
Four months into the inquiry, the Royal Commission is gathering significant information and continues to receive valuable submissions from the public, from current and former State servants, experts and community groups. ...
While Fish & Game New Zealand is pleased to see Federated Farmers Environment Spokesperson Chris Allen say that 'we all want good, fresh water', he conveniently overlooks some key facts. ...
What: Wellington demo “Save the Amazon Forest/Salve a Amazônia!” When: Friday, 6 September 2019 from 12:30-13:30 Where: Embassy of Brazil in Wellingtona ...
Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, welcomes the visit of His Excellency Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal. ...
A cross political Mental Health and Addictions Wellbeing group will be launched on Wednesday 28 August hosted by Sir John Kirwan and Moe Milne (ONZM) who have both been at the forefront of our country’s often difficult conversations about mental ...
Confirmation that the government will be progressing an independent Parliamentary Budget Office is great news for democracy and transparency, Federated Farmers says. ...
At first glance, Simon Bridges’ strident opposition to the government’s proposal to establish an independent office to cost political parties’ election spending plans looks childish and petty. ...
Euthanasia-Free NZ is appalled that Parliament spent so little time debating Part 2 of the End of Life Choice Bill and voted to leave it full of holes. ...
Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance and its nationwide sister group the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Auckland Mayor Phil Goff for his comments today that John Tamihere would need the Government’s support to ...
A ‘one size fits all’, inflexible and punitive regulatory regime for water quality just gets backs - and costs - up and most importantly will not work, Federated Farmers says. ...
Mediation yesterday between secondary principals and the government has resulted in a deal that the principals' negotiating team is recommending to its members. ...
Clubs New Zealand welcomes the decision of Justice Minister Andrew Little to put forward a bill amending the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow all licensed premises to remain open for Rugby World Cup matches. ...
The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has ordered a review looking at labelling of added sugars in food and drinks. An option under investigation is ‘a pictorial approach applied to sugary beverages / sugar-sweetened beverages’ ...
Labour market data released by Statistics New Zealand today indicates that a gender pay gap persists in New Zealand, despite improvement in some areas. ...
In the midst of the 6th Great Extinction Event the coalition, STOP Trashing Our Planet is urging voters to take full responsibility for the legacy we are leaving our children. ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie Indonesia’s harsh policies towards West Papua ought to be scrapped. Whatever happened to the brief window of enlightenment ushered in by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 with promises of a more “open door” policy towards foreign journalists and human rights groups? They were supposed ...
The House - The grammar of being an MP is harder than you might think. MPs in Parliament choose their words with care, and it just got more complicated. ...
As a format it predates almost all reality TV, and that’s precisely why it works in 2019, writes Duncan Greive.There’s something deeply comforting about watching Celebrity Treasure Island. It is a very pure form of escapism, largely because it explicitly recalls a world without the internet, and before everything started ...
Residents in Los Angeles and Orange County warned to check for symptoms after an infected NZ teen visited theme parks including Disneyland and Universal Studios earlier this month.Californian health authorities have issued warnings to residents and visitors after a New Zealand teenager was found to have spent five days in ...
When you crave fresh, bright flavours but summer veges seem far away, throw together this simple salad.Growing up we often ate this salad, or one very similar to it. My mum is a fantastic cook and this dish is one she still makes to this day – though I must ...
Analysis of New Zealand media headlines reveals a lot of people slamming a lot of other people.Slamming is at epidemic levels in New Zealand news. Drawn from just the last month, we present a selection of slamming.On July 27A union boss slammed David ClarkOn July 29Police slammed a dangerous photographerOn ...
Vana Manasiadis wrote a collection of poetry in the wake of her mother’s death. In this essay, ahead of her appearance at the Going West festival, she argues that as a nation Aotearoa needs to learn to make space for mourning. When Mum died in Athens, I cried loudly and publicly ...
The giant hand that captivated, delighted and disgusted the nation is now settling into its new Wellington home. For City Gallery Wellington’s blog, Spinoff arts editor Megan Dunn talked to Ronnie van Hout, the man who made Quasi.“Quasi is in the wrong place,” wrote art critic Warren Feeney in 2016, ...
At school camp, the children are banned from having phones, laptops, lollies, chocolate, money, cotton clothing or independent thoughts. They, are, however, allowed home baking – but it’s gotta be hearty. How hearty are you? We are packing for a school camp. If you’re thinking that the middle of winter is ...
Phil Goff’s rival has already pledged an 0800-Jacinda homeless hotline and an 18-lane harbour bridge. What’s next? The two most important people in the 2019 campaign for the Auckland mayoralty faced each other down on Wednesday night across the desk in the NZME debate: Bernard Orsman and Simon Wilson. Correction: it ...
Split Level View Finder: Theo Schoon and New Zealand Art is the exhibition that sparked a protest over issues of cultural appropriation and institutional representation. Theo Schoon is a divisive historical figure. But is his art any good? Martin Patrick reviews.British novelist L.P. Hartley once wrote that “the past is ...
Ahead of debuting her solo show at New Zealand Fashion Week, Korean-NZ couture designer Cecilia Kang talks about growing up ‘feminine’, being influenced by the LGBTQ+ community, and why an ‘administrative error’ at Fashion Week left her so shaken up. ‘I like something big,” says Cecilia Kang, gesturing to the giant ...
The Labour Party is distancing itself from one of its members who is strongly pro-Beijing and has caused controversy in the Chinese community by standing for local office in Auckland. ...
Faced with staff shortages, equipment failures, cancer risks, and a jump in critical calls that can leave them traumatised, some firefighters are wondering if it’s time to hang up the hose. Gareth Shute reports on the dissatisfaction inside Fire and Emergency New Zealand.The state of our nation’s fire service is ...
“She comes over. You’re my mother, she says. Yes, I say. I don’t know you, she says”: a mother and child seaside story by Wellington author Jan Pryor. Photo by Peter Black. ...
On Monday the government announced its new five-year strategy to reduce the Māori prison population. Emilie Rākete looks at another ‘kaupapa Māori’ prison initiative that degrades prisoners and asks if Corrections are capable of seeing it through.On August 19th, the Department of Corrections announced Hōkai Rangi, its new strategy intended ...
By Michael Andrew The Indonesian media is contributing to resentment and racism toward Papuans, according to a human rights researcher and former journalist. Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Jakarta told Pacific Media Watch many Indonesian journalists either view Papuans as enemy “separatists” or deviants and their reporting tends to convey these ...
Analysis - The prime minister puts a stake in the ground over petrol prices, National balks at having its election promises costed and the government puts millions into helping the homeless. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Record fires are raging in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, with more than 2,500 fires currently burning. They are collectively emitting huge amounts of carbon, with smoke plumes visible thousands of kilometres away. Fires in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sean Docking, Post-doctoral researcher, La Trobe University Basketball fans around the world were recently sickened by the footage of NBA star Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon rupturing during a game. But while many think it’s only elite athletes who suffer from Achilles tendon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The possibility of blackouts affecting half of Victoria has attracted plenty of attention to a document once read only by industry insiders and policy wonks: the Electricity Statement of Opportunities. The Statement, updated ...
George Clooney sold his tequila company for a billion dollars – but is the stuff any good? The Spinoff finds out. Imagine being so stupidly sexy you sneeze and sell a billion-dollar booze company. That’s what George Clooney did last year, flicking off the tequila business he started accidentally with an ...
The departure of "two Pākehā men" from the government's justice reform group will not hurt the quality of its final report, another member of the team says. ...
Combatting internet-related harm is being stymied by inter-industry disagreement and a lack of information about the extent and nature of the problem, a new report says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, J.W. Nevile Fellow in Economics and host of The Airport Economist, UNSW Amid the tributes to former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer and the stories of his authenticity, courage and quirky interests – like trains and military history – what ...
Current leader of the National Party, Simon Bridges.Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Is Simon Bridges really trying to channel Donald Trump? Or is he taking his cue from Scott Morrison? Or is he looking to emulate Boris Johnson? Whatever the inspiration, there’s been a clear change in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]Michelle Grattan talks about the sad news of the passing of former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini. They also discuss Scott Morrison’s recent announcement about joining ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriel Crowley, Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, James Cook University In February, about 600,000 cattle were killed by catastrophic flooding across north Queensland’s Carpentaria Gulf plains. The flood waters rose suddenly, forming a wall of water up to 70km wide. Record depths were ...
Simon Day dined alone at Monique Fiso’s Wellington restaurant Hiakai, and discovered it was the perfect way to appreciate the meaning of this special food. “Would you like a few more minutes with your phone?” the waitress at Hiakai asked sympathetically as I mashed a final goodbye text to my wife ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Willamson, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Australia’s gender pay gap is diminishing, says a new report, but some contributors to it seem harder to overcome than others. For me, the finding hit close to home. The report, by KPMG for ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi by Toby Morris with Ross Calman, Mark Derby, and ...
Honey producer Comvita has confirmed a full year net loss of $27.7m with China market access restrictions and tougher regulations locally affecting the company's sales. ...
James Elliott realises John Tamihere's uncosted bridge proposal wasn't actually a metaphor, but a fine example of 'folks is mighty generous with money what they ain’t got'. ...
A new poem by Oamaru-born poet Nick Ascroft.SupermanHalfway up the ascent zigzagging from Royal Terrace to upper Stuart Street carrying four too-heavy grocery bags I begin to understand that I will not make it. My huffing personage – from the fingers, white with the strain, to a face the colour of rhubarb – will ooze into the pavement and roll slowly ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.Sound the alarm, because it’s time for another absolute chaos pod. We’re talking haunted dolls in Waipu, we’re talking giant hands taking over Wellington, we’re talking soft serve cones dipped in powdered Milo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Press, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania This week, the ABC revealed that the Australian Defence Force wants to roll out military technology in Antarctica. The article raises the issue of what is, or is not, ...
New Zealand teacher aides say their pay reflects an outdated idea of what they do. Elizabeth McLeod hears from four TAs, and one parent, about the classroom realities they face every dayCleaning up poo, defusing violent situations, copping physical and verbal abuse: these are the realities of a teacher aide’s ...
The lanky sidekick from Jono and Ben journeys around New Zealand trying to solve small town problems. Does he succeed?Guy Williams, hardly a shy, retiring type, has been screaming out for his own vehicle for years. A loud, lanky, fearless comic, he’s spent nearly a decade in MediaWorks purgatory, sat ...
Ballot Box.Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – The nature of New Zealand general election campaigns could be significantly changed with the proposed establishment of an “umpire” to adjudicate over political party manifesto policies. A suggestion has been put forward by the Government for the establishment of a parliamentary watchdog ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Ihumātao Delphine Herbert and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Tainui to buy Ihumātao land – sources Danielle ...
Open mike 28/09/2014 
Open mike is your post.
My wife and I have had dogs for the whole of our 52 years of married life – and that has meant sharing our lives with our little furry friends. Because we usually spend a good part of our evenings watching television, it also means that our dogs have learned ...16 hours ago
. . Former Police, Corrections, and Justice Minister in the previous John Key government, Judith Collins, has been ridiculed on social media after posting a comment on Twitter that was patently untrue; . Wrong!! National did not remove Prisoners’ ability to vote. Parliament voted through a Private Member’s Bill ...2 days ago
Speaker Trevor Mallard was left to look after Jones, while his usual caretaker, Winston Peters, underwent surgery. A truly adorable scene from Parliament yesterday has gone viral, after Speaker Trevor Mallard cradled an extremely drunk Shane Jones in his arms while the House was in session. Loud “awwww”s could be ...2 days ago
Western media have defended their decision not to cover the fires so as not to give them any oxygen. Social media outrage continues to grow around the sentiment that mainstream western media is devoting too little coverage to an ongoing series of fires in the Amazon rainforest, and in doing ...2 days ago
A Long Time Ago, In A Parallel Universe Far, Far Away: The political journalist scratched his head in confusion. Only then did he notice the name of the building: ‘The Jacinda Ardern Presidential Library and Public Resource Centre’. Making his way inside to the information desk, he asked the librarian ...3 days ago
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Nothing from me tody - I'm off to Christchurch to pretend to be other people for a weekend. Normal bloggage should resume on Tuesday. ...3 days ago
Spark is bracing for a customer backlash as rugby fans all across the country struggle to get a picture on their wireless router. With the Rugby World Cup fast approaching, an elderly Taranaki couple are furious after being told that they still won’t be able to watch the tournament, even ...3 days ago
Several explosions have been reported across Auckland, as well-meaning environmentalists have already begun purchasing too much petrol Starting from next week, customers will no longer need a car to purchase petrol directly from the pump, a development that two major fuel providers are billing as an opportunity to help fight ...3 days ago
A new study claims to find that a mother’s exposure to fluoridated water during pregnancy may decrease the IQ of male children – but is it correct? (Photo: Getty Images) Anti-fluoride campaigners are promoting ... 3 days ago
by Jan Rivers More than 30 years ago a Commission of Inquiry was held in New Zealand to investigate, amongst other things, whether women with cervical cancer were aware that they had been part of a research project and whether they were properly informed of the treatment options ...5 days ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...6 days ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...1 week ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...1 week ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...1 week ago
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Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...1 week ago
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...2 weeks ago
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...2 weeks ago
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...2 weeks ago
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...2 weeks ago
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ... 2 weeks ago
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...2 weeks ago
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...2 weeks ago
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...2 weeks ago
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...2 weeks ago
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...2 weeks ago
West Papua solidarity activists met yesterday and resolved to call on the Prime Minister to step up to help resolve the escalating crisis in West Papua. ...10 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By David Robie Indonesia’s harsh policies towards West Papua ought to be scrapped. Whatever happened to the brief window of enlightenment ushered in by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 with promises of a more “open door” policy towards foreign journalists and human rights groups? They were supposed ...8 hours ago
The House - The grammar of being an MP is harder than you might think. MPs in Parliament choose their words with care, and it just got more complicated. ...10 hours ago
As a format it predates almost all reality TV, and that’s precisely why it works in 2019, writes Duncan Greive.There’s something deeply comforting about watching Celebrity Treasure Island. It is a very pure form of escapism, largely because it explicitly recalls a world without the internet, and before everything started ...11 hours ago
Residents in Los Angeles and Orange County warned to check for symptoms after an infected NZ teen visited theme parks including Disneyland and Universal Studios earlier this month.Californian health authorities have issued warnings to residents and visitors after a New Zealand teenager was found to have spent five days in ...14 hours ago
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I’m tired of self-flagellation, so let’s give credit to Joyce and ‘National’ for running an effective campaign.
The branding of Harry Holland in ‘51 is easily demolished – suggesting that the interests of beneficiaries and billionaires are the same.
I noticed a full-size poster at my bus stop saying “The Film Industry Thanks You” featuring a minotaur-like human with horns, what appeared to be unused props, and an attractive young woman facing the camera.
Remembering Weta’s involvement in NZ politics to change industrial legislation, it troubled me.
When I went to take a digital image of it a few days later, it had gone.
Then, at a pre-election candidates forum in Miramar a young intellectual type piped up about the ‘film industry’.
Straws in the wind, perhaps – but I would be interested in any other crowd-sourced observations of the ‘National’ Party campaign
Perhaps these ..
“An open letter from John Key”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11332789
http://yournz.org/2014/09/08/vote-positive-and-the-standard/
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
So average wages will increase several thousand over the next three years according to Mr Key. How will this come about?
Average.
Yep happening already.
Sky tv CEO
got a 7.6 per cent pay rise after a record net profit for the year to June 30 with a package of $1.8 million
That is an increase of 138k per yr.
Meanwhile, the lowest paid wages just went down by the rate of inflation.
Pete George is like a beached whale. He doesn’t get better with age. I wonder when he’ll get over the breakup of his relationship with The Standard?
Dear media. The causes of Labour’s election performance are complex and multifaceted. Can you stop treating New Zealanders like a bunch of idiots and start a more complex discussion about what happened?
Complex? Discussion? Media? You jest methinks.
Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint just now on Radio NZ furnished a nuanced and fair analysis of the election. Pointed to the fact the Labour Party is to the right of Rob Muldoon on economics, in a piece that critiqued the notion of ‘the centre ground’ and how far right it has been pushed.
The left = bad, regardless of facts with the MSM who wag their tails on command as DP has shown. Dumbing down is part of the strategy.
Any who oppose the rights powerful allies such as academics, industry bodies, support groups etc will be smeared, mis represented and outright lied about if thats what it takes.
Failure to deal with this reality and counter it will continue to cost the left dearly as the MSM will continue unaffected as evidence suggests with DPF and Hooten not even having a breather and straight into it again.
Quit living in an ideal construct and figure out how to deal with reality, it aint fair but then life is not fair so why expect it from our corporate and govt owned media.
And that is exactly what we saw here: DPF attacking an academic with lies.
+1
dead right Mickey. But why oh why are the”media” fueling the “every body for Robertson “campaign.
Because they want a new target for vilification.
The old story
” Lets attack DC because he’s married and got 2 kids… oh wait”.
” Because he’s intelligent and got a Harvard degree and no commercial experience….oh wait”
” Because he lives in a 2 million dollar house in central Auckland…oh shit that’s avg price there”
” Because he comprehensively lost the caucus vote…what? 18-16…bugger”.
” Because he grew up poor and played rugby.. hang on”.
” Fuck it ..OK who’s next”.
Robertson…Oh Yeah, PAYDIRT!
It looks to me like the political/media elite rushing to protect themselves from competing ideas, with the potential to weaken their power base.
not all bears @thelittlepakeha 14 mins,
“if I wanted good examples of charities that have had their funding cut by govt, whether just because or after criticism of govt,
where would be a good place to look? particular blogs?”
Anyone remember? I think we’ve had discussions here about this.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10553642/Kerr-under-pressure-in-fund-revolt
Anyone interested in who benefitted in the SCF was bankrupted and bailed out under Govct guarantee might want to read this. Am I reading correctly — that ACC and Crown Asset Management are deeply involved in this schmozzle ? Registered away from NZ taxes in Caymans ?
And wasn’t George Kerr reported as receiving $100 million of govt guarantee funds from his very belated SCF bond purchases ?
Stinky much ??
“Investors in a secretive private equity partnership are rebelling against its manager, enigmatic Kiwi businessman George Kerr, as scandal threatens to engulf the $240m fund.
The Torchlight Fund, now domiciled in the Cayman Islands, was formed in 2010 to invest in distressed assets such as South Canterbury Finance.
The identity of its partners has never been formally disclosed but Fairfax NZ understands they include New Zealand government entities Crown Asset Management and ACC, whose estimated respective exposures stemming from the South Canterbury collapse are about $30m and $2.5m.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10553642/Kerr-under-pressure-in-fund-revolt
There needs to be a in-depth investigation.
Read my comment here from Paul Caruthers video (The video is now taken down!!!)
and Sarahs reply
Very smelly.
thx dv .. a new, albeit bad, quality link ..http://www.openureyes.org.nz/blog/?q=node/5677
Not happening under national, move on as they’ve used numbers in the house to defeat an attempt before and will if needed again.
Now of course a high calibre well funded investigative team with a prominent MSM outlet could…..uh oh hang on a tick does anyone else see an issue here.
of course ! But from the Stuff lin k I posted, this could offer some little hope .. these
of course .. but this from the Stuff link I posted offers some little hope .. ASIC not so easily silenced as our msm or sfo …
“On Thursday the Australian Financial Review reported Van Eyk’s Sydney offices had been raided by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as it investigates alleged irregularities at its fund management division.”
Thanks Yeshe
Do you know if there is a transcript of the Caruthers video?
Interesting that it was taken down.
Do you know how authoritative caruthers is?
Does anyone else think that Hubbards autopspy report is sealed is odd?
On further investigation I see that the Curruthers video on the Vinny Eastwood Youtube channel was collateral damage after a video describing Keys history turned up.
http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/freedom-of-speech-curtailed-in-new-zealand-vinny-eastwoods-youtube-channel-shut-down/
This present Government will not want an investigation in to Kerr’s ties with SCF because I bet they invested in Kerr via ACC and NZ Super . Torchlight was formed in June 2009 — just ready for SCF to announce its loss $$$( but underlying profit ) ….
The bigger problem under the GG was not highlighted , follow your noses or google and then you will understand – SCF was small fry as a liability but a goldmine of assets.
$Southbury invested in irrigation infrastructure and by 2009 the present Govt were secretly planning funding on a grand scale of irrigation. Secret cabinet papers were gained by NZ Herald under OIA – showing just that.
Hubbard’s Southbury supported large schemes, Hunter Downs, Central Plains, etc etc … and he was taken out of the picture. By 2012 the Canterbury Irrigation Schemes were worth a reported $5billion to the Canterbury economy alone…
The true value of the Hubbard empire was far in excess of what the paper figures portray and were sold of undervalue in cases that were highlighted to media. Scales a value of $4 a share sold to Direct Capital for $2 – DC sold out 80% for a cool $180million just recently, There are many more and others hide under a cloak of secrecy. Face Finance bought by GE and interestingly it was GE that pulled funding last minute for Helicopters NZ and forced Hubbard in to the breach. They buy FACE Finance and now specialise in aviation and increased their assets by a cool $600million…..
Aorangi was NEVER insolvent – Hubbard placed equity in well above what was required… that has proven to be so based on the managers own reporting and the fact the investors have returned 99% funds less $12 million in fees alone for Aorangi.
Easy to use the media to destroy a man and his reputation – Stat Management is a very dangerous law that is open to political abuse… a court order should have been required – in that case Hubbard would never have been in Stat Management , the $60million so called fraud transaction out was actually the money he put in… the original fact sheet was wrong. When the Regulators realised that mistake (the Stats reversed this transaction out of Aorangi at the start) they should have acknowledged the mistake – they did not , instead continued on as if Hubbard was the thief… and destroyed him along the way with the spin via MSM.
This only touches the surface – it is an absolute shameful event from beginning to end. BUT Allan Hubbard was trialed again with SCF (even when dead and unable to defend himself) and most likely in Oct it will be confirmed to be “All Allan Hubbard’s fault”….
Media Watch and Wayne Brittenden are very good on recent events and the last weeks Election
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/20151331/mediawatch-for-28-september-2014
and this
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/20151343/wayne-brittenden's-counterpoint
Got a phone call to renew my Labour membership last night at 9.30pm. Had already done so online and told Fraser House as such. Said that I’d rejoined just so I could vote back DC because as a gay man myself, Robertson leaves me cold and I couldn’t see how he could appeal to the redneck rugby playing non urban voters. Coupled with the fact his electorate vote went down, as well as only getting third in the party vote in 2014, how he could claim to represent Labour was unthinkable.
On the bright side, membership is only valid till Dec 31 so if Robertson unfortunately manages to win, at least I don’t need to worry about renewing my membership on Jan 1 2015.
James Thrace +100…. a Glenn Greenwald …Grant Robertson is NOT
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/15/moment-truth-greenwald-dotcom-snowden-assange-new-zealand-john-key
Update on Petition….come on! ….sign up!… lets reach 10,000….lets try and give the Nacts a run for their money
…if it is not fraud …i am sure that it would have been, if they could have wangled it!
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Hon_Sir_Hugh_Williams_KNZM_QC_LLM_Recount_NZ_2014_Election_I_believe_it_was_rigged/?tDwgaib
this is quite funny imo..if it wasnt so serious!…(love the computer guy!)
A recount? What a waste of time and money
all election night ballot papers are recounted
http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/preliminary-results-2014-general-election
Then why petition to have them done a third time? A waste of time and money.
Pretty compelling reason for us to stick with paper voting.
We had booth by booth results available and online within hours of polls closing. Our current paper based system is efficient, traceable, auditable, re-countable.
yes agreed!..no computers in the mix
Tells you everything you need to know about the way some people think. They can’t accept that people might have chosen not to support their party.
Can someone please confirm the cut-off date for new members wanting to vote for the Labour party leader. “Keep Cunliffe as Labour Leader” on Facebook is saying it was 11.30pm yesterday. ??? Thanks.
I hope it was yesterday, because it is quite unpleasant seeing a bunch of carpetbaggers joining up just to vote.
Lurgee, they’re joining up because they genuinely care about the Labour Party and the future wellbeing of New Zealand – and they wholeheartedly believe that David Cunliffe is the best man to take on John Key in 2017, having had the benefit of three more years’ experience.
The Facebook page supporting him has over 4,300 likes already, and it was only set up a week ago.
Surely that’s a good thing, driving up the membership of the Labour Party? Why are they ‘carpetbaggers’ as you suggest, just because this upsetting election loss has motivated ordinary people to act? They’ve realised that if the Labour Party is to survive, they need to get involved as supporters and volunteers.
Shouldn’t the members ultimately determine the future of the Labour Party, and its policies, not the MPs who represent us? That’s why they demanded constitutional changes last year, after decades of being ignored.
I’m entirely in favour of membership choosing the leader. It should, IMHO, be an equal vote. Why should the votes of caucus count for more than the votes of an ordinary member. It’s not a very socialist idea.
But I still find the idea of people joining a party just so they can vote in an election deeply worrying. Obviously, you’ll disagree as the sign ups seem to be favouring Cunliffe and your handle suggests you might be a bit partisan.
I recently read this quote by GB Shaw: “Newspapers are unable to discriminate betweeen a bicycle crash and the collapse of civilization.” Shaw died in 1950 – the media has been a problem for a long time. One of the problems lies in daily publication; it tends toward an ADHD mentality that robs issues of their necessary depth.
We do need publicly funded news media outlets with a robust mandate to not treat the public like idiots. The health of our democracy depends on it. Living in China, and looking at NZ, it’s very clear to me that propaganda does have a power to influence our minds, and the only way to avoid its power is to be seriously paying attention to what’s going on – which no one can do about everythng all the time.
I came across a sharply pixelated example of how propaganda works, in Russell Brown’s Hard News post on Sep 24:
“….Gower’s conduct in the press conference made me uneasy.
He shouted at Cunliffe, a lame-duck leader with no good answers, for the answers he wanted. And then he barked: “Just say it — stop being tricky!”
“Tricky”. It’s hard to over-emphasise quite how loaded that word is. “Tricky David Cunliffe” is an attack line conceived and cultivated by Cunliffe’s National Party opponents over the entire time of his Labour leadership. There can barely be a National minister who hasn’t deployed it: The first few Google results for the phrase turn up Todd McLay, Amy Adams, John Key and, naturally, Whaleoil. Its organised use had a lot to do with shaping the popular perception of Cunliffe. It would not have had meaning without Cunliffe’s missteps, but it was a very successful political strategy.
For these reasons, it’s a line that a journalist simply should not be using.”
And Cunliffe’s reply? …”Nice Try Paddy ” was ok by me but I think the general public would have preferred a ‘Muldoon’ type of reply to Gower’s obnoxious disrespect and egotistical rudeness.
I would have said, “F*ck off Gower you little creep!” but that’s why I wouldn’t make it as a politician or a diplomat.
Cunliffe has remarkable self control.
It’s also an interesting chicken-and-egg situation, since some of Cunliffe’s “missteps” that initially got the idea of trickiness into the mainstream consciousness (e. g. the intial Best Start announcement, the Dongha Liu letter) are only really missteps in the context of the media reaction that was constructed around them.
Yeah but on top of that, he does occasionally drop the ball. Such as setting up a trust to protect the identities of his financial backers or not communicating better with Goff in the 2011 election campaign.
Some think these things are examples of serious character flaws; I don’t. I simply think he’s clumsy sometimes. That clumsiness could become a major liability if he were seeking a third or fourth term as PM, cos you know he’s gonna hand his opponents something they could build a serious attack around. But fuckit, if you obsess too much about the enemy it puts you off your own game.
I hear what you’re saying, but Clark, Goff, Key, English… even Cullen managed to put their feet in it at times. Key’s probably the most clumsy, in fact (“We’d love to see wages drop”, Tranzrail shares, anything to do with the appointment of Ian Fletcher, “That’s one scientists opinion and I could probably find other experts to back up mine”, “Gay red shirt”, “Trotie”… he’s a veritable Mr. Magoo), but it doesn’t count against him. Key has a solid reputation and even a very long string of frequent gaffes doesn’t really seem to have endangered that. Cunliffe, once generally viewed as a person of substance, would also not be damaged by the odd bit of clumsiness.
Key’s gaffes are not seized on by the media.They love ‘gaffes’ by anyone on he left. In their desperation for scandal headlines they salivate, enhance and exaggerate any slight mistake by Cunliffe and gloss over any of Key’s.
Or maybe it’s the editors who are further up the right wing food /money chain do the changes to the journalists original copy giving it a right wing slant.
People are saying a lot of negative stuff about Grant Robertson. I’ve had personal experience of the guy and my impression is that he’s decent, superbrainy and he could be a good leader of the country. While he’s a good public speaker, he aint super-presidential, but then Labour shouldn’t bee seeking to follow the crowd in its approach to politics – that’d be like a good honest family restaurant emulating McDonalds to get more people through the door. You compromise your essential character and you’ll never be McDonands anyway.
Personally I’ve never seen evidence of anything like an ABC faction. A bunch of MPs dislike Cunliffe; that’s life. Some of these MPs have been attacking him through the media in a disgusting, cowardly manner, thereby undermining the party. Even worse, by undermining the party they’re adding to the suffering of the people the party needs to get into power to serve: The quarter of a million kids who live in poverty, low wage workers, the wider precariat, the small businesses who need a supportive policy environment in which to prosper – this is why their actions are decidedly hateful. Personally, I don’t believe there’s a faction, and I don’t believe there’s a conspiracy. I believe there are individuals, some of whom deserve to be evicted from the party they owe their careers to.
I believe that Cunliffe should retain the leadership of the party, though resigning and reapplying for his job after such a poor election result is actually a healthy step. He really does need to seek a new mandate.
If he wins he’s in for another three years of vicious, often nakedly dishonest (in the vein of helping a wifebeater who then gives labour a $100,000 donation that doesn’t exist) attacks by National, aided and abetted by MSM. The only way to avoid that fate would be if he was supported by the media or if he had a Muldoon/Clark type personality. So basically, he can’t avoid that fate. Neither could Robertson. I have to respect these guys for putting their hands up for one of the country’s shittiest jobs.
Back to Grant. New Zealand is a grievously divided country. We need guys like him around to help bring us together – he’s a conciliatory, broad church kind of leader with a deep, genuine sense of empathy. He has made the Wellington Central electorate his own because he’s competent and he impresses the fuck out of people he meets. I certainly believe that identity politics has been a three-plus decade blunder, supported by people who somehow manage to be simultaneously triumphalist and dangerously insecure. Grant supports gay issues, but in no way are his politics narrow, sectional or self-absorbed. If anything, I see him as old school left.
Well said Vaughan.
I don’t see Grant as the enemy of the left, I just do not think he is experienced enough to be the leader of the Labour Party yet.
I agree that whoever gets in will be subject to unrelenting, biased attacks in the MSM, and I am surprised Grant wants to put himself through that.
Nor would I wouldn’t have blamed David for giving up – but I am glad he hasn’t.
and the bottom line i have noticed..
..from doing commentaries on questiontime..
..is that robertson is not able to perform in parliament..
..for yrs i have watched various national party entities just wave him away..
..whereas when cunnliffe stands up..
..you can hear a cracking sound as nattys stiffen their spines..
..a reinvigorated left and centre..(as in fix poverty and look after the middle class..i.e. policies that will get the missing million out to the voting booths..and heads-up!..raising the pension age isn’t one of them..
..what is so complicated/difficult about that..?..)
..this re-focused labour..led by cunnliffe..
..is what terrifies the right the most..
..this is why the concerted attack on him by corporate-media..and the abc’ers..
..is so torrid/fervent..
..and this is why they must be ignored..
..it is all fucken spin..
..corporate media and the right..working in concert..
..(i’ll say it for cunnliffe)..’fuck them..!..eh..?..’)
I can go along with most of what you say. Except that word “centre”.
Appealing to the middle. Fuck that, we’re left.
Like Steve Jobs said, don’t worry about giving people what they want, cos by the time you’ve figured out what people want and put it on the market, they’ve moved on. You have to figure out what people want before they know they want it. That’s actually leadership.
We have to be sensitive to the people we’re seeking the privilege of governing, but honestly, we’re the ones who are thinking policy and politics 24/7. We have to do the hard graft of figuring out what policy best suits the country, and then take it to the poeple and communicate our vision to them in a responsive, two-way process.
Simply put, it’s our job to attract the centre leftwards. In a dialectical process.
i included ‘centre’ because it has become such a loaded word..
..with this battle for labours’ soul being depicted as left vs. centre..
..where in fact it is progressive vs. neo-liberal/right..
..and labour have to focus on their message to that real ‘centre’..
..that progressive policies designed to see off poverty etc..
..will also be good for them..
..too my mind..it’s not difficult to do..
..the scare-tactics that will come from the right..
..must be countered/seen off..
Only just watched that post caucus video, Far out.
Shearer breaks ranks to talk and causes part of this feeding frenzy and then swans over to New York, plays the outsider and says today ‘oh’ it’s too distracting this leadership talk. I really just wanted to help review what went wrong. Stunning irony.
Hypocrite.
None of the candidates have acknowledged the party members and what they want. “I can unify the party, I can beat Steve Joyce in the house, I was the former leader…”
the failures to achieve are all over the place and none of this is “secure or stable”.
Watched that Q and A.
Robertson supporter:
“I am Labour”
We are a broad church, but I am Labour. Coyle is very unimpressive.
Hipkins: Very impressive. It will be interesting to see where he and Parker go.
If the message Hipkins put forward today came from his senior colleagues then Labour would look like a professional government ready party.
I want to see a room where Robert Reid and Hipkins are in the room and both have got their obvious skills and guns turned on Key and National.
Coyle? Seems poisonous to me. As Robert Reid pointed out criticised the party during an election campaign from the position as its representative on television. Unimpressive.
Reid is right, the liberals and those in working poverty need to find a way to unite. Also like many liberals- just because you grew up in poverty in a much kinder era doesn’t mean you understand what is like there now.
reid is like a breath of fresh air..
..showing up the concerted bullshit/spin for what it is..
..and yep..!..coyle is hideous..a grotesque..
..as if we needed yet another josie pagani..
I personally hate liberalism. But have found it easy to work with liberals in Labour. To paraphrase Stanley Hauerwas, the key to building friendship is to find meaningful work to do together. Labour represents nothing if not an opportunity to do meaningful work – to do good for the country, and especially its most vulnerable.
To be honest, I haven’t always found it in myself to refrain from bitching at liberals and their ideological excesses on facebook. I’m not proud of that…
If I was to join the labour party with the intention of voting in the upcoming race how would a new comer filter out the bs and learn the the pro’s Cons of the contenders.
same way you did at the general election. Same way you usually judge people and their intentions. I’m sure there will be a lot of information put forward in the campaign.
Is a purge necessary?
Who would go if either side won?
Several Cunliffe supporters have already lost list seats due to the election result, I believe.
@newsense mallard would be my choice its time he went the way of Tau Henare
Here are the just released details of the Labour Party Review. The two people conducting the review will be announced this coming week. It is proposed to have it largely completed and reported on by December.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11332997
Looks comprehensive. Result will depend somewhat on the two people conducting the review and who they take submissions from, but I am cautiously hopeful.
My sentiments too Karen.
Just as important is: who will they take submissions from? This, in itself, will give a clue as to how serious they take the review and whether they are conducting it in an objective/inclusive way. For example: if they choose well known Labour members/commentators like Josie Pagani, Deborah Mahuta-Coyle and even Mike Williams, then I will have my doubts as to the authenticity of the review.
I think Shearer is quite right to say the leadership contest should have waited until after the review.
Looks like an adequate frame of reference.
* They should also have a look at the delays in finalising policy that were a problem with timing releases.
They often came at awkward times because a policy that was expected would suddenly get bumped. This was apparent in that often the policy would be just a press release and the all important detail didn’t get released until days later. It was also quite evident that there were variants between what people were talking about and the later details.
All signs about late detailing and too many hands involved very late in the process. Policies need to be settled a week or weeks ahead and then have the complete package at release. Otherwise National exploits the holes in MPs understandings
* The campaign was always susceptible to a late interruption because it was designed to come to culmination. It got disrupted by outside events, just as it has been in at least 3 of the last 5 elections.
* Campaigns are 3 years long. Perhaps Labour should start operating as if they are. What you do in the first two years is just as important as the final year especially in terms of getting working teams and systems. That didn’t happen the last term or in the previous one.
Clare and the Viper
Who said peak cray cray ended with the election.
http://www.matthewbeveridge.co.nz/politics/clare-and-the-viper/
And to think, I knew you before you got famous lol
“you are not constitutional”
Eat your cake, comrade. Meet the revolution.
Haha! The NZ version is – kids in poverty can eat Pav!
I might have developed a green skin, but I’m still red blooded.
Wish you well, mate.
Whoever head hunted Clare Curran for parliamentary status made a big mistake. Maturity does not appear to be her strong point.