Not a dumb idea – best viewed as a case-by-case thing as per last time the Greens worked with National. The more fractious the rightist troika gets, the better it will work as strategic option for Lux. I was intrigued that he went out of his way to establish common ground with Hipkins in that last debate, so neolib solidarity will be his style and James can do that no problem.
If Lux is smart he'll organise a private sit-down with James post-campaign, to plan a blue-green strategy for the next term. Okay, it's true he rarely seems smart, yet his track record in business does suggest that the possibility is realistic. Getting everyone on the same page would be a feasible skill in this scenario.
Does this logic apply to his stroppy rightist partners? No and yes. Not on bottom lines. Yes on evident mutual-interest issues.
Now 30 years since I led the consensus decision-making process for the Greens, which I did as a non-leftist. I contributed 5 years of my life to that process, to get them into parliament, and it was pre-MMP.
Nowadays, consensus politics is as necessary as ever. Leftist posturing is irrelevant. Post-election, folks will get real about this…
Suggesting it is not a dumb idea tactically. But only if your purpose, as Hooton's appears to be, is to bleed more votes from National to ACT by raising fears among the libertarian right that National might really do such a thing.
Truly believing that it makes any sense and is not simply self-contradictory, is exceptionally dumb. Environmentalism without the left-wing politics is best described as "gardening". Anyone serious about protecting the environment including the climate from catastrophic change, will run smack into the problem of having to permanently restrain corporate power from doing what it wants in its endless demands to get a return on capital. You are then engaged in doing the complete opposite of what the National Party stands for – and your opponents will describe you as 'left' even if you believe you aren't.
Yeah, all true. Everyone ought to learn from the consequences of this election. Partisans will learn different lessons. I'm interested in the common ground I anticipate emerging. Moves like Hooton's are interesting signals to shifting…
Oh yes. Essential for him to maintain relevance in his career path. You're right to point to that as it is a valid basis for cynicism. Sorry about the spelling mistake (perfection is too hard)..
Because Hoots did and the polling trend-line makes that the likeliest outcome. GP credibility always derives from representation of the broader Green movement, wherein I've been anchored since '68.
That means they will have to use the trad evolutionary survival skill of humans: adaption to circumstances. Bullshit leftist ideology will come second. If they want to prosper, I mean, in that scenario he pointed to…
I personally give Hooten no credence after hearing his squealing and griping about the left on Kathryn Ryan's RNZ 9 'till noon last election. He was so bad she shut him down and he has not been back.
He is fond of making bridges for non existent rivers. In this case he obviously believes every party bar Labour "wants to work with National" so his hypothesis is built on that wishy washy premise. Teal sounds like no deal.
Yes doesn't surprise me. However he has been critical of National once or twice in recent years & has been a paid advisor to them earlier, & the teal brand hit the big time via electoral success in the last aussie election…
If the greens got enough votes to get a 2 party coalition with national, it should be looked at seriously, the greens would need to pick thier 3 most important causes and stare luxon down , luxon would be a fool not to seriously consider it given his other 2 options.
Don't let the search for perfect destroy the good, or something like that.
Rather audacious of you – I hadn't considered any such scenario! Let's keep it in mind until post-election to ascertain feasibility. It'd be transformative for the nation but totally in line with orthodox Green praxis. As a bonus, by making it work it would clear out all the cobwebs that have been accumulating within the heads of the young idealists in the Green Left Network. https://www.greens.org.nz/green_left
Which would ground them in collective reality nicely. I've been anticapitalist more than half a century & I'm sympathetic to their stance – whilst being dismayed by their ongoing naivety & propensity for making fools of themselves!
Asked if large companies should pay extra taxes on “unusually large profits”, 78% of respondents said yes. Just 13% of people disagreed with a windfall profits tax, with the remaining 9% unsure.
So a vast majority of our electorate wants a tax on capitalism. I predict, therefore, that no leftist politician will be reported in the msm pointing this out in a public declaration!
Not that surprising. Never expect voters to have a coherent, properly worked out position. Including, it has to be said, oneself. This is why there is so much potential for the left to grow if it could just strike the right note and assemble the optimal grab bag of policies.
It’s sort of bizarre after all this tm, just before the election we see CGT is what people want and the two parties in the next coalition coalition are against it. And the next opposition main party.
Held during the Covid-19 Pandemic, the hearing took place on Zoom. Those speaking to submissions opposing the legislation were subjected to vicious cross-examination by Labour and Green committee members. The notion that citizens appearing before a parliamentary committee have a right to be heard respectfully clearly no longer applies to those who step outside the ideological boundaries of transgenderism. Clearly, in Labour’s and the Greens’ moral universe, TERFs have no rights.
When a shocked Nicola Willis rose in the House of Representatives to record her own, and the National Party’s, dismay at the treatment meted out to gender critical submitters by Labour and Green MPs, Labour’s Deborah Russell proudly owned-up to her behaviour and, to the applause of her colleagues, promised the same to all such ideological apostates appearing before her.
Nastiness exposure is likely to be an escalating trend! And there's this:
It was, after all, Vilfredo Pareto, (1848—1923), who characterised democracy as a political system for securing “the orderly circulation of elites”.
A century on, as relevant as it was then. Yet I heard Chris Bishop, on the RNZ 6am news, referring to `shit housing'. Using pleb lingo like that is a sure-fire way to represent his constituents authentically. The newsreader said he admitted that past National govts were responsible too for creating such lifestyle situations for voters. Elitists are never big on admitting mistakes made by their elite group, so I'm having to reluctantly concede that he might actually be a man of the people. I thought he was a total dork till now.
Chris Trotter has been writing the same column for over 20 years. He is completely clueless about the modern left and hasn't been relevant or in the loop since forever. I get heartily sick of his relentless negativism simply because the world refuses to conform to his nostalgia for a pre-1984 world. He is an old man cowering in his tastefully removated villa and waving his fist at clouds.
I could write any of his columns from the last decade or more:
<carefully defined straw man> to define all those he dislikes in a negative light.
<appeal to authority> Specifically, his.
<Demolition of straw man> in which he criticises all those he dislikes in the terms he has defined.
<segue to identity politics> Because Chris Trotter is obsessed with the topic.
Anyway, the conclusions is always the same. The modern left is hopeless, all is lost unless we all do as he says to restore the world to rights.
His reactionary instinct nowadays is to spontaneously sympathise with the right, so he is angry at the left for critising it.
Trotter simply loathes the 1980s as somethingsomething went wrong.
Most egregiously for him is that there is no longer any monolithic class-based reform movement.
Anyone with an once of wisdom would see that the 1980s is where the left both splintered and revived itself into a rainbow of different movements, and he 'gets' none of them:
Maori liberation
Female and sexual and reproductive liberation
Environmental protection
Anti-nuclear and peace movements, and
Anti-racism protests
Evolving as they all do, as a bunch they define who progressive NZ is. They are the people doing the work, by and large.
And of course he has no answer to why there are so many splinter resistance movements post-COVID controls.
He can certainly string a rhetorical line together, but it's mired in a sickly nostalgia for a labour movement that dissolved with the union movement about 30 years ago.
He would write better if he joined more community groups and felt the joy of volunteering.
The thing that Trotter fails to grasp is exactly that the only constant is change. Class consciousness is fragile, fleeting and fungible. Like Martyn Bradbury, Trotter tilts at the windmills of identity absolutism and associated pieties from the early 2000s. The reason he has no answer to why there are so many splinter resistance movements post-COVID controls is that in his obsession with his war against the politics of twenty years ago means he has no means to describe the world we face today.
Trotter fails utterly to perceive what are living through at the moment is a backlash against the identity politics of the 2000s. And in the backlash and the rise of post modern post-truth news and a fractured society which no longer has many shared experiences, and after the great accelerator of the pandemic, we are seeing new configurations, and what often seem at first blush to be bizarre diagonal alliances that constantly draw people from left to right.
A more perceptive left wing commentator who mind is still open to new interpretations and plastic enough to absord new information would be most welcome in our MSM.
Good analysis and your final point especially. Hard ask though. We don't get enough intergenerational discussion to elucidate the morphing effects. Journo training ought to include a politics module with a focus on that!
The old NLP thing – entered the Alliance in parity with the Greens, exited as just another bunch of leftist losers, while the Greens succeeded! He was an activist within the NLP at the time. So the reason you could be right to assume he carries a grudge would be the leftist retreat into denial precipitated by political defeats.
Trotter represents the old style left and doesn't really understand the changes that have taken place over the last few decades. But that is not to deny that he has written some good material in the past.
Tim Selwyn's description of a Winston Peters speech is pretty much an analogue of Trotter's standard paragraphs:
"The speech lurches from one topic to the next. Observe the entire arc of delivery:
he defines the problem, goes back in time a hundred years, maybe just fifty,
describes the bucolic idyl that was New Zealand that (somehow) never had the problem, recalls an incident involving Muldoon,
says what NZ First did or tried to do or thought about doing at the time the problem arose,
blames the current government and every previous government that didn’t involve him for that problem,
pauses and lowers his voice for the punchline – only NZ First can fix this problem.
It’s a partially coherent, partially mythic with Holyoake notes. The technique draws applause mechanically and reliably like a grandfather clock striking a chime."
The parallel is instructive. Imagine a world similar to ours in which political scientists had nous. Then they would use such political pattern-detection to illuminate political psychology. That blend of mythos & problem-delineation blends then & now in the psyche for the audience, then the avatar presents as saviour blended with dragon-slayer. Powerful formula!
Alternatively the consequences are a constantly revived progressive movement that has achieved and sustained power away from the hard right about 50% in the last 3 decades.
A 'functioning and successful country' with a housing crisis, a failing health system, educational standards declining, crumbling infrastructure, an economy that can only function via human trafficing and wealth inequality of unprecedented scale….to highlight some of that 'success'.
Perhaps Trotter has avoided the trap that others have fallen in to
This is where you fall into a false binary of either catastrophism or trite optimism. Trotter's 1970s world had plenty going wrong as well, and they aren't hard to list:
– deep path dependence into the petroleum-based society
– deep path dependence into low-value agricultural commodity economy
– small and diminishing international networks
– a boring, smallminded, moralistic, neurotic society with a colonial mindset
– a completely neglected Treaty relationship and suppressed racism
– near-complete reliance on the state for economic development
Trotter's view is like Muldoon should have just continued along forever.
How about you defend your statement that we are a functioning successful country rather than make erroneous statements about Trotter's views on long dead politicians.
Crikey one of the easier defences I've been asked for.
– Sustained low unemployment and under-utilisation rate
– One of the world's lowest crime rates
– Spectacular landscapes that everyone else in the world adores
– The cities we have are actually pretty cool, consistently rated highly in the world
– Strong democracy and voting rate in central elections
– By world standards an effective public service, very low corruption across entire society
– By OECD standards a very progressive society, with a v strong human rights system
– 30% of the country is conservation estate, which is more than anywhere except Bhutan and the Marshall Islands
– Mild climate, by world standards, even in the 50 year forecasts
– Coherent multicultural society with very mild fracture lines – hard to find anywhere else
– Scrumptious food, and you can even hunt it for free
– Compared to OECD countries, a really strong welfare system that has improved over the last 6 years
– A government consistently shown to intervene hard and deep when it has to
– A very sustainable country producing .2% of greenhouse gases in world, 82% of its electricity by renewable sources, and one of the first countries to pledge a carbon-neutral future
– A safe country that plays by the international rules, keeps its alliances close and long, and prefers peace and diplomacy rather than spend much on defence other than when equipment wears out
– Has rapidly shifted its economy to specialist services, tourism, and film and television production, not just agriculture, in last 15 years
But sure, the health and transport systems definitely need improving, and consumption taxes are high.
Yeah, exactly. Monty Python dramatised the splitter as leftist archetype way back when but did the leftists learn the lesson? Nah, shitferbrains. Still, one could let them off that hook by observing that differentiation is a natural mental process.
My take is that one must shift into consensus politics for praxis – put one's internal zealotry to the side awhile. So I did that 30 years back in the Greens. It worked due to us all having aspirations as common ground.
Credibility is in the eye of the beholder, of course. Yet, as a thesis, it may have merit. His historical analysis is based on durable principles, yet do they still work as the basis of a mass movement in politics? If he's right, it's a factor in the electorate's disillusionment with Labour. A viable alternative analysis would point to morphing of tribal leftism.
Shocking lack of solidarity in doing such a thing. Sadly, I think Chris now sees himself as a prophet in the wilderness – and his faithless people will be cast into perdition unless they turn to him for forgiveness and guidance. Grandiosity pervades his work now, though sometimes there is a snippet of his old clarity which I used to enjoy years ago.
I can't see anything ironic about it. It's just stupid and selfish. He's not the only leftie that is ok with the left losing this election, but all of it is daft.
AD- Yes the left moved on –
and Trotter puts the finger on it to where the GP is going:
"The Greens move away from the system-challenging principles upon which the international Green movement was founded: Ecological Wisdom. Social Justice. Participatory Democracy. Nonviolence; is instructive. Displaying a disconcerting facility for Orwellian rewording, the Green Party of Aotearoa now lists its own core principles as: Ecological Wisdom. Social Responsibility. Appropriate Decision Making. Non-Violence."
"The deletion of the words “justice”, “participatory” and “democracy”, amply confirms the Greens’ ideological trajectory: moving away from the emancipatory principles traditionally associated with the Left, and towards the uneasy marriage of technocratic “governance” and post-modern subjectivism so neatly personified in the party’s current co-leadership of James Shaw and Marama Davidson."
After I read Trotter argue against a CGT because people of his age did not like it, I placed him in the man of yesteryear category (aging into a conservative). Similar on some Maori issues, such as co-governance – but he does occasionally lapse into idealism mode to lash Labour for listening to him and others like him.
I have not read the article by the way … he writes different articles for different audiences because he writes well, and he can change the narrative to tell a story they can (each) appreciate.
Couple of good points there. Idealism must be tempered by pragmatism (story of my life) & his stance adapting to each audience makes him resemble a politician (all things to all people) & reminds us that the origins of trade got connected to local markets where you have to do a spiel to get customers.
Fair enough. I got no problem with TPM but can't count the GP as credible due to the censorship they did on a poor old feminist three years ago. Free speech is part of the ethos of the Greens – always has been. As a member of the GP at the time I got the verdict by email so I know the facts of the case. Totally fos: dumb buggers blew their credibility out of the water. Yet I had to keep quiet about it onsite here.
Subsequently, that's true. Because I was a party member, I was under a moral obligation to keep quiet at the time. Team psychology. If I had reported it then I would have damaged the political reputation of my team.
I still have not reported the actual text of that email, nor have I disclosed it to any friends or ex-partners privately. I did describe the overall situation due to having to let them know why I intended to jump ship. Instead, I waited out the term of my annual membership and didn't renew and ignored all the reminders. As part of the feedback process they organised, I had given them my analysis of the ethics involved, so they are knowingly guilty of their breach.
I haven't even gone into my Greens sub-folder to re-examine their bullshit litany of feeble excuses. I still feel real bad about James getting roped into that but I know how leftists do things having been through it all before back in '94. That one involved actual deceit and apparently deliberate lying to the party conference about the agenda (a leading female activist) which I was formally responsible for due to being convenor of the SOC.
I am, in principle, willing to expose their lack of credibility via publishing the proof ( re both moral lapses) but continue to hope it won't necessary! I did get a formal apology for the first one (declared to the conference by the executive the following year, I was told by an insider friend who attended) & it's ancient history now. Re the second, the woman victimised was 80 three years ago and may be dead now. There was also a secondary victim: the editor (also female) who was forced to resign. The dim-witted morons do really need to get real about this sort of thing but I'm retired & not directly involved so feel no compulsion to alert them to their moral failings…
While it's great that the Commerce Commission finds its voice 3 days before voting on whether the Warehouse gets to sell Weetbix, on a poll of 1000 people, the vast majority want to see company super-profits taxed far harder.
"Asked if large companies should pay extra taxes on “unusually large profits”, 78% of respondents said yes. Just 13% of people disagreed with a windfall profits tax, with the remaining 9% unsure.
A smaller majority also supported some sort of capital gains tax. Asked if income from shares and property investments should be taxed like income, 62% said yes."
It does make you think that Winston wasn’t half the handbrake PM Hipkins and Dame Jacinda were.
And that if they hadn’t been judged on their ability to respond and deal with some severe crisises, their on-going failure to deal with the structural issues in NZ society would have seen them judged much more harshly and much earlier by both the electorate and by history.
Well that's the foolishness of trying to judge political party performance by their policies.
Most of political performance is dealing what fate throws at you.
That's been the case since a series of them including:
– 1997 Asian Financial Crisis,
– 2001 consequence for NZ of 9/11,
– 2008-9 Global Financial Crisis,
– 2010-11 Christchurch earthquakes,
– 2010 Pike River Disaster,
– 2011 Rena Disaster,
– 2018 Christchurch terror attacks,
– 2019 White Island disaster,
– 2020-21 COVID outbreak,
– 2022 inflation and supply chain consequences of Russian invasion of Ukraine
– 2023 Gabrielle and other storm disasters …
… and that's what happens to transformational policy no matter who is in government.
It's a matter of degree in your list Ad, which is highly misleading.
At Pike River and White Island a few people got killed. The first Global Pandemic for several generations, Covid, has officially killed almost 7 million people (probably over 10 million) and many elements of the international economy ground to a halt for over two years and it is still recovering.
That is what this government has had to cope with. It handled Covid brilliantly-the economy still functioned well because we shut the borders, and its approach saved the lives of at least 11,500 kiwis compared with the UK deaths/million.
I travelled for 5 weeks in WA recently. It was illuminating to talk to the locals who were just about the only other place in the world to successfully close their borders to Covid. They said it was great-the mines kept operating, the cafes were humming and they all bought 4wd’s and went camping in WA.
Crikey. Pike River itself was a Royal Commission, a full new Ministership and ministry, a substantial Crown Law and Police headache, and massive legislative change that affected over 60,000 construction workers and changed direct liabilities for every single company director.
Minimise if you like but it was no small matter for the government.
If "Dame Jacinda" had announced a CGT tax last year, NACT and the tabloid media would have gone into overdrive spreading misinformation in the same way they have over three waters and co-governance. Most of those people who are now claiming they would like to see such a tax would have been squealing their heads off and wishing a pox on Labour's house. The same outcome would have occurred if Hipkins had announced earlier this year they would introduce a wealth tax.
It has been drummed into the minds of the populace at large that Labour = BAD. National = GOOD. The truth is the opposite, but a large portion of voters fall for the line time and again.
You're onto it. I was pondering the merit of sending in this: "Hipkins oughta do a one-liner in his concession speech: Bugger the focus groups!" Decided it would be uncool at this point in the campaign…
Sanitarium is inferring it might be an inability to supply sufficient product to all outlets – but say … it's not policy to talk about production levels and supply issues.
So to summarise: CEOs are partisan twits who should be ignored by Labour.
To watch the shit eating Labour is going through only to see an uncosted, unfunded, inflationary plan called ‘pretty good’ by CEOs makes me think – fuck governing for them, be a goddam Labour Party! However neoliberal you play it, they just want the Nats.
Hard to see how a Mayor Collins would have been worse than this.
Obviously a lot of people are going to suffer, and gain nothing in service improvements for paying more money to Council. In fact more likely services get worse.
Wayne Brown wants city independence, but is going to lose the regional fuel money under any National government (and cover the time till congestion charging is allowed) and without Labour's three waters taking the water debt off their books, they are close to the debt cap – so up go the rates.
He may be secretly hoping for Labour to win.
Half the workers are only getting $10 a week tax cuts and facing higher water charging (as well as food and rents). The other half might be getting $25 but face the rates and water cost rise.
Many would be better under Labour coz of the likelihood of wage increases MW or under FPA industry awards. And maybe Greens 3% pa rent caps.
Auckland is going to be sad under any NACT government – even worse than Wellington (there job cults).
One has to wonder about the economic intelligence of workers that think they will do better under National.
But then no one said that racists were smart, look at the lot (LOUD FAT and UGLY) with red MAGA caps.
Increasing rates will be permanent as the cost of future climate change damage is added on to the cost of making up for past neglect (as in this case). This might make home ownership too operationally expensive for many, while also depressing the capital value of houses. That's a recipe for a further contraction of home ownership and gleeful buy ups of relatively cheap houses by mega landlords. Climate change has so many potential downsides it's frankly horrifying.
Knowing a bit of the history regarding the West Coast..and Climate Change ….and IMO one of the main Climate Deniers : Alan Birchfield.
I was kinda gobsmacked to read this !
Dooley believes costs related to Birchfield's actions while he was chair are much higher than $40,000.
In a letter published in The News soon after last month's extraordinary meeting, Dooley said "three recent employment settlements, including legal and investigation fees, have cost ratepayers over $620,000…"
The figure did not include costs associated with recruiting replacements, Dooley's letter said.
"As a new councillor, I had a massive concern about the culture inherited from the previous council chaired by councillor Birchfield and the ongoing costs to ratepayers of inappropriate actions or failures of the then chair.
Excellent reporting & I bet the shit hit the fan locally/regionally once the mental connection became evident. Mind you, coasters being rather slow on the uptake, could still be in the pipeline slowly moving towards consciousness.
Next govt has to pull finger re storm damage prevention design aka resilience strategy. Opinion leaders down there ought to be pointing that out in their advice re campaign relevance. Maybe they already are…
see this is irony. Anti-green culture on the coast for decades has meant the voting in of climate denier councillors and mayors. Now the coast is one of the first places to be forced to adapt by extreme weather events.
Let's see how many climate deniers get voted in next time. 2023 general election voting patterns should say something too. Some people are slow to change.
I have great Respect for Green people who live on the Coast. Having had "some" attacks on me for my Green..(Greenie.. as an insult.. !) and Left (are you a commie..! ) viewpoint in the Otago area…I can but imagine what it must be like…
“There’s an awful lot of conservationists here that tend to keep their head down because the debates get so unpleasant and vociferous particularly when it gets mixed up with the racism stuff then it gets pretty toxic.”
Morfett says the West Coast suffers from “a real failure in leadership”.
“Many of our local and regional politicians are so wedded to business as usual… They are fearful of the change and looking for someone to kick and so-called greenies get the blame for the way the world is going.”
The motion was passed with only two votes against from goldminer Brett Cummings and chairman Allan Birchfield who made comments denying carbon dioxide’s effect on the climate at the meeting.
He told Stuff it was not possible to find a compromise with “green groups” like Forest & Bird.
“They are fanatics. You can't negotiate with them. It’s like trying to negotiate with terrorists. They have been practising genocide on the Coast for the last 30 or 40 years. So many people have had to leave.
And maybe Alan Birchfield..as a dinosaur (equivalent brain size?) and his type..are slowly becoming extinct ? I however, do fear a NActFirst Govt would re-gene them. Fight back the Left !
"National's disciplined approach results in a forecast $3.4 billion reduction in debt compared to Labour in 2027/28." She said under National, a $2.9b surplus is forecast for 2026/27 which was "$0.8b higher than Labour".
"We have provided for significant buffers, with $9.9b of unallocated operating spending to ensure we can respond to cost pressures and changing circumstances."
One way it would save money is to change the way benefits are calculated, returning to indexing benefits to inflation rather than wages, saving $2b over the forecast period.
Most of the reduction in debt ($3.4b) comes from less money going to those on benefits.
5. Deliver tax relief for hard-working Kiwis– National will provide tax relief up to $250 a fortnight for an average-income family with young children in childcare.
The $250 figure includes $150 only available to those with children under 5 (and only if they spend more money than that on child care – child under 3 or a lot of hours 3-5).
And Labour's free hours care for those 2-3 is worth as much (an extension of the 3-5 free hours to 2 to 5).
The number of families involved is probably about an 8th (children aged 5-10, 10-15 15-20 etc 3/4) at most – given about an 8th have a FT parent till the child is 2 and are then PT workers (around the free child care hours).
So redistribute wealth upwards from the bottom to the "squeezed middle" ?
Or in expanded form: "redistribute wealth upwards from everyone at the bottom including those with young kids, to the "squeezed middle" with young kids?
Rob the poor to give the well off property hoarders who made billions over the pandemic while the squeezed middle and poor are doing it hard very hard. Nationals tax cuts only benefit the wealthy while dumping that amount of money into the property market will force house prices even higher.
Does anyone have access to National Party manifesto/election commitments over the last 70 years regarding their intentions to get tough on/stamp out crime? And does anyone have the figures to show that, with all their time occupying the government benches, just what they achieved? I suspect zilch – but it captures the emotions every election.
I think I have read here before that the "gang problem" might rapidly decline if they were to lose their source of income – drug dealing. Perhaps if possession and use of all drugs was decriminalised two issues could be tackled and solved very readily.
Tova investigates candidates who like to discriminate against minority groups:
In The Post, Andrea Vance revealedthat Angelo had liked social media posts which used offensive homophobic slurs targeting the LGBTQ+ community and rainbow MPs including one which called Green MP Chloe Swarbrick a “man-hating dyke”. Seymour told Tova, Swarbrick is a quality human being, “she’s someone I've enjoyed a long relationship with, despite considerable philosophical differences, so I don't agree with that sentiment.”
Pushed on why he then allows support of those sentiments from those within his party, Seymour said he doesn’t and defended Angelo, “I think your connection between liking a tweet and believing that and having that as a core belief is tenuous at best.”
Strikes me Seymour's reasoning here is likewise "tenuous at best.” Then we got this from the other rightist aspiring tail-wagger party:
Seymour wasn’t the only MP defending questionable party candidates on Tova, NZ First’s deputy leader-apparent Shane Jones was asked about Kirsten Murfitt, number 11 on NZ First’s list.
Stuff’s Charlie Mitchell revealed that Murfitt, under the pseudonym Polly, once shared a post suggesting those who took the “death-shots” are “technically no longer ‘human’”. Another post suggested visiting a cemetery to verify whether “dead vaxxers” emit Bluetooth signals.
Imagine NZF candidates cruising collaboratively around cemeteries with bluetooth detectors, then wonder if Winston would agree it's public-spirited behaviour…
If the great United States can have the likes of Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene in government there’s plenty of scope for us to have a lunatic or two.
Seymour is saying that political candidates can unreflectively blurt whatever they like and nobody should care or read anything into it – ever. I'm all for forgiving occasional outbreaks of stupidity from ordinary citizens – but patterns of it from candidates for high public office? In any case, it's a standard that everyone should remember and hold Seymour to in future.
Seymour is the first one to pour on the criticism if any Labour,Green or TPM office holder always saying they should resign immediatly its time for Seymour to live up to his own standard.
The Machiavellian mind is a mystery. Who knows what Hooton is up to except Hooton himself – and maybe not even him. I think he wants to:
carve off more Nat votes to ACT by frightening libertarian, far-right voters into thinking that Luxon would do that and has to be stopped
demotivate young people from voting Green and make them give up and not vote
rekindle the old smear that the Greens are not a 'proper' environmental party just radical socialists/communists who will send us all to the woke gulag
'I don't want to form government with NZ First': Nicola Willis
“This is a really serious answer, and I think the people in this room need to hear it: I don’t want to go into Government with NZ First,” Willis said.
On that…
However, the odds of that are not looking good. The Herald’s poll of polls reckons National and Act have just a 39 per cent chance of getting over the line without NZ First’s help.
I still think that Winston has a problem this election. While the rolling polls may be showing him creeping over the 5%, but not by much, many wavering voters of the Right will plump for National not NZF because he made Jacinda PM. They hated this with a vengeance. At the same time nobody with any brain cells on the Left will vote for NZF because they know that if he gets 5% he will put National in power.
In previous elections these two factors haven't existed to anything like the same degree.
I was wavering yesterday due to the handbrake on nact theory then I read some of Winston's fb post last night, fucker has jumped the shark in his pursuit of staying relevant, no more happy days for him hopefully.!
The only time I've tried to link to fb here it appeared to leave the door open to my acc, now I realize I'm pretty unimportant in the scheme of things but wasn't keen on doxxing myself.
It could get dangerous for Politicians in the Election run up. Be careful out there… esp we on the Left ! Angela Roberts : Labour
A Labour candidate says she was slapped by an aggressive member of the public while at a local election debate this week.
Following the debate, Roberts said she was having a discussion with a "tall man" about education policy and other things when "aggressive finger pointing started".
"Then things took a turn for the worse," she said.
"He grabbed my shoulders and shook me in order to emphasise the point he was making. Then he slapped my cheeks with both hands.
I suppose we take it for granted that our political candidates are more or less safe on the campaign hustings and it is a bit of shock when this happens.]
I guess we should give thanks that we aren't like India where no election has ever happened without at least one candidate being murdered, plus countless more assaults.
Co-incidentally, yesterday I was chatting to an antiques shop owner in Featherston and we were discussing what she termed "a nasty element to this election". I agreed that there is an unpleasant undercurrent to this election, to the likes I have not seen before.
'Life drawing class ejected from community centre after nude model mishap during fire drill.'
There are a hundred sides to every story and we'll take the version we want from this one I suppose.
There may have been issues before which has seen a 'last straw' situation arise. The group may have had countless warnings and hadn't abided by necessary rulings – hadn't played ball. Arty farty independent types and all.
Or some jumped up little twerp was making their mark on the world.
Creative minds will go to work no doubt and when the group finds a new venue the new title might be something like 'Get an Effing Life Life Class.'
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Teal deal real? Hooton scans the plausibility of this notion (paywalled):https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/election-2023-national-plus-the-greens-a-teal-deal-is-a-real-possibility-matthew-hooton/QXZIUJNYERAWJALJPV3AJT57XM/
Not a dumb idea – best viewed as a case-by-case thing as per last time the Greens worked with National. The more fractious the rightist troika gets, the better it will work as strategic option for Lux. I was intrigued that he went out of his way to establish common ground with Hipkins in that last debate, so neolib solidarity will be his style and James can do that no problem.
If Lux is smart he'll organise a private sit-down with James post-campaign, to plan a blue-green strategy for the next term. Okay, it's true he rarely seems smart, yet his track record in business does suggest that the possibility is realistic. Getting everyone on the same page would be a feasible skill in this scenario.
Does this logic apply to his stroppy rightist partners? No and yes. Not on bottom lines. Yes on evident mutual-interest issues.
Hooten? blueGreen? Like toxic algae.
As James Shaw remarked to Corin Dann when asked about the possibility of aligning with National – "Don't you get sick of asking that question?"
Besides being classic Divide and..Rule, Its an Insult to James Shaw and Greens.
And Dennis Frank sharing Hooten/Trotter ? Just feeding that…
Now 30 years since I led the consensus decision-making process for the Greens, which I did as a non-leftist. I contributed 5 years of my life to that process, to get them into parliament, and it was pre-MMP.
Nowadays, consensus politics is as necessary as ever. Leftist posturing is irrelevant. Post-election, folks will get real about this…
Sanc-
Not a dumb idea
Suggesting it is not a dumb idea tactically. But only if your purpose, as Hooton's appears to be, is to bleed more votes from National to ACT by raising fears among the libertarian right that National might really do such a thing.
Truly believing that it makes any sense and is not simply self-contradictory, is exceptionally dumb. Environmentalism without the left-wing politics is best described as "gardening". Anyone serious about protecting the environment including the climate from catastrophic change, will run smack into the problem of having to permanently restrain corporate power from doing what it wants in its endless demands to get a return on capital. You are then engaged in doing the complete opposite of what the National Party stands for – and your opponents will describe you as 'left' even if you believe you aren't.
I like that!..So true. Good phrase, I will remember : )
Yeah, all true. Everyone ought to learn from the consequences of this election. Partisans will learn different lessons. I'm interested in the common ground I anticipate emerging. Moves like Hooton's are interesting signals to shifting…
I doubt Hooton's 'values' are shifting, in praxis, but then 30 years is a long time…
The machavellian play isn't normally values-driven, it's tactical, and it need not be cynical. It is engineered to achieve an outcome.
Machiavellian moves and plays are often motivated by self-interest, imho.
“It is more important to be feared than loved” – traffic lights (sanctions) ahead.
Oh yes. Essential for him to maintain relevance in his career path. You're right to point to that as it is a valid basis for cynicism. Sorry about the spelling mistake (perfection is too hard)..
More defeatist stuff Dennis. You write as though Luxon has already won.
Because Hoots did and the polling trend-line makes that the likeliest outcome. GP credibility always derives from representation of the broader Green movement, wherein I've been anchored since '68.
That means they will have to use the trad evolutionary survival skill of humans: adaption to circumstances. Bullshit leftist ideology will come second. If they want to prosper, I mean, in that scenario he pointed to…
I personally give Hooten no credence after hearing his squealing and griping about the left on Kathryn Ryan's RNZ 9 'till noon last election. He was so bad she shut him down and he has not been back.
He is fond of making bridges for non existent rivers. In this case he obviously believes every party bar Labour "wants to work with National" so his hypothesis is built on that wishy washy premise. Teal sounds like no deal.
Yes doesn't surprise me. However he has been critical of National once or twice in recent years & has been a paid advisor to them earlier, & the teal brand hit the big time via electoral success in the last aussie election…
Hooton is pipe dreaming again.
If the greens got enough votes to get a 2 party coalition with national, it should be looked at seriously, the greens would need to pick thier 3 most important causes and stare luxon down , luxon would be a fool not to seriously consider it given his other 2 options.
Don't let the search for perfect destroy the good, or something like that.
Rather audacious of you – I hadn't considered any such scenario! Let's keep it in mind until post-election to ascertain feasibility. It'd be transformative for the nation but totally in line with orthodox Green praxis. As a bonus, by making it work it would clear out all the cobwebs that have been accumulating within the heads of the young idealists in the Green Left Network. https://www.greens.org.nz/green_left
Which would ground them in collective reality nicely. I've been anticapitalist more than half a century & I'm sympathetic to their stance – whilst being dismayed by their ongoing naivety & propensity for making fools of themselves!
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300979367/new-survey-shows-widespread-support-for-taxes-on-capital-gains-and-windfall-profits
Surprisingly even 50% of act voter want a cgt
From your link:
So a vast majority of our electorate wants a tax on capitalism. I predict, therefore, that no leftist politician will be reported in the msm pointing this out in a public declaration!
Not that surprising. Never expect voters to have a coherent, properly worked out position. Including, it has to be said, oneself. This is why there is so much potential for the left to grow if it could just strike the right note and assemble the optimal grab bag of policies.
It opens the door for if ,L,G,TPM sneak the election for labour to say they made me do it ,
It’s sort of bizarre after all this tm, just before the election we see CGT is what people want and the two parties in the next coalition coalition are against it. And the next opposition main party.
Nice critique of left-wing politics here:
Nastiness exposure is likely to be an escalating trend! And there's this:
A century on, as relevant as it was then. Yet I heard Chris Bishop, on the RNZ 6am news, referring to `shit housing'. Using pleb lingo like that is a sure-fire way to represent his constituents authentically. The newsreader said he admitted that past National govts were responsible too for creating such lifestyle situations for voters. Elitists are never big on admitting mistakes made by their elite group, so I'm having to reluctantly concede that he might actually be a man of the people. I thought he was a total dork till now.
Chris Trotter has been writing the same column for over 20 years. He is completely clueless about the modern left and hasn't been relevant or in the loop since forever. I get heartily sick of his relentless negativism simply because the world refuses to conform to his nostalgia for a pre-1984 world. He is an old man cowering in his tastefully removated villa and waving his fist at clouds.
I could write any of his columns from the last decade or more:
<carefully defined straw man> to define all those he dislikes in a negative light.
<appeal to authority> Specifically, his.
<Demolition of straw man> in which he criticises all those he dislikes in the terms he has defined.
<segue to identity politics> Because Chris Trotter is obsessed with the topic.
Anyway, the conclusions is always the same. The modern left is hopeless, all is lost unless we all do as he says to restore the world to rights.
His reactionary instinct nowadays is to spontaneously sympathise with the right, so he is angry at the left for critising it.
Trotter simply loathes the 1980s as somethingsomething went wrong.
Most egregiously for him is that there is no longer any monolithic class-based reform movement.
Anyone with an once of wisdom would see that the 1980s is where the left both splintered and revived itself into a rainbow of different movements, and he 'gets' none of them:
Evolving as they all do, as a bunch they define who progressive NZ is. They are the people doing the work, by and large.
And of course he has no answer to why there are so many splinter resistance movements post-COVID controls.
He can certainly string a rhetorical line together, but it's mired in a sickly nostalgia for a labour movement that dissolved with the union movement about 30 years ago.
He would write better if he joined more community groups and felt the joy of volunteering.
The thing that Trotter fails to grasp is exactly that the only constant is change. Class consciousness is fragile, fleeting and fungible. Like Martyn Bradbury, Trotter tilts at the windmills of identity absolutism and associated pieties from the early 2000s. The reason he has no answer to why there are so many splinter resistance movements post-COVID controls is that in his obsession with his war against the politics of twenty years ago means he has no means to describe the world we face today.
Trotter fails utterly to perceive what are living through at the moment is a backlash against the identity politics of the 2000s. And in the backlash and the rise of post modern post-truth news and a fractured society which no longer has many shared experiences, and after the great accelerator of the pandemic, we are seeing new configurations, and what often seem at first blush to be bizarre diagonal alliances that constantly draw people from left to right.
A more perceptive left wing commentator who mind is still open to new interpretations and plastic enough to absord new information would be most welcome in our MSM.
Good analysis and your final point especially. Hard ask though. We don't get enough intergenerational discussion to elucidate the morphing effects. Journo training ought to include a politics module with a focus on that!
Trotter has always hated the Greens…I have referenced his articles on TS numerous times pointing this out.
The old NLP thing – entered the Alliance in parity with the Greens, exited as just another bunch of leftist losers, while the Greens succeeded! He was an activist within the NLP at the time. So the reason you could be right to assume he carries a grudge would be the leftist retreat into denial precipitated by political defeats.
Trotter represents the old style left and doesn't really understand the changes that have taken place over the last few decades. But that is not to deny that he has written some good material in the past.
Tim Selwyn's description of a Winston Peters speech is pretty much an analogue of Trotter's standard paragraphs:
"The speech lurches from one topic to the next. Observe the entire arc of delivery:
he defines the problem, goes back in time a hundred years, maybe just fifty,
describes the bucolic idyl that was New Zealand that (somehow) never had the problem, recalls an incident involving Muldoon,
says what NZ First did or tried to do or thought about doing at the time the problem arose,
blames the current government and every previous government that didn’t involve him for that problem,
pauses and lowers his voice for the punchline – only NZ First can fix this problem.
It’s a partially coherent, partially mythic with Holyoake notes. The technique draws applause mechanically and reliably like a grandfather clock striking a chime."
Things just ain't what they were and it's so sad.
The parallel is instructive. Imagine a world similar to ours in which political scientists had nous. Then they would use such political pattern-detection to illuminate political psychology. That blend of mythos & problem-delineation blends then & now in the psyche for the audience, then the avatar presents as saviour blended with dragon-slayer. Powerful formula!
The consequences of the Balkinisation of politics are the same as for nation states….diminished resources and commonality of purpose.
By all means enjoy the individuality but dont expect the ability to implement anything at scale.
Alternatively the consequences are a constantly revived progressive movement that has achieved and sustained power away from the hard right about 50% in the last 3 decades.
And what has that 3 decades delivered?
As said, enjoy your sense of individuality.
It's delivered a functioning and successful country.
No doubt we are more individualistic, but the scale of social cohesion was had up to the late 1980s was never going to be sustained anyway.
Don't fall into the same trap as Trotter.
A 'functioning and successful country' with a housing crisis, a failing health system, educational standards declining, crumbling infrastructure, an economy that can only function via human trafficing and wealth inequality of unprecedented scale….to highlight some of that 'success'.
Perhaps Trotter has avoided the trap that others have fallen in to
This is where you fall into a false binary of either catastrophism or trite optimism. Trotter's 1970s world had plenty going wrong as well, and they aren't hard to list:
– deep path dependence into the petroleum-based society
– deep path dependence into low-value agricultural commodity economy
– small and diminishing international networks
– a boring, smallminded, moralistic, neurotic society with a colonial mindset
– a completely neglected Treaty relationship and suppressed racism
– near-complete reliance on the state for economic development
Trotter's view is like Muldoon should have just continued along forever.
How about you defend your statement that we are a functioning successful country rather than make erroneous statements about Trotter's views on long dead politicians.
The binary view appears to be yours.
One defence of a 'functioning successful country' along with 'the left is different nowadays' is 'I'm doing alright'.
Crikey one of the easier defences I've been asked for.
– Sustained low unemployment and under-utilisation rate
– One of the world's lowest crime rates
– Spectacular landscapes that everyone else in the world adores
– The cities we have are actually pretty cool, consistently rated highly in the world
– Strong democracy and voting rate in central elections
– By world standards an effective public service, very low corruption across entire society
– By OECD standards a very progressive society, with a v strong human rights system
– 30% of the country is conservation estate, which is more than anywhere except Bhutan and the Marshall Islands
– Mild climate, by world standards, even in the 50 year forecasts
– Coherent multicultural society with very mild fracture lines – hard to find anywhere else
– Scrumptious food, and you can even hunt it for free
– Compared to OECD countries, a really strong welfare system that has improved over the last 6 years
– A government consistently shown to intervene hard and deep when it has to
– A very sustainable country producing .2% of greenhouse gases in world, 82% of its electricity by renewable sources, and one of the first countries to pledge a carbon-neutral future
– A safe country that plays by the international rules, keeps its alliances close and long, and prefers peace and diplomacy rather than spend much on defence other than when equipment wears out
– Has rapidly shifted its economy to specialist services, tourism, and film and television production, not just agriculture, in last 15 years
But sure, the health and transport systems definitely need improving, and consumption taxes are high.
I move that the next leftist govt makes you minister of tourism. Seconders??
Yeah, exactly. Monty Python dramatised the splitter as leftist archetype way back when but did the leftists learn the lesson? Nah, shitferbrains. Still, one could let them off that hook by observing that differentiation is a natural mental process.
My take is that one must shift into consensus politics for praxis – put one's internal zealotry to the side awhile. So I did that 30 years back in the Greens. It worked due to us all having aspirations as common ground.
No, you had it right the first time He is a dork. I call him the ciggie butt.
I wonder what resonance this view of Trotter's has: "there is no longer a credible left-wing party." https://democracyproject.nz/2023/09/28/chris-trotter-losing-the-left/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chris-trotter-losing-the-left
Credibility is in the eye of the beholder, of course. Yet, as a thesis, it may have merit. His historical analysis is based on durable principles, yet do they still work as the basis of a mass movement in politics? If he's right, it's a factor in the electorate's disillusionment with Labour. A viable alternative analysis would point to morphing of tribal leftism.
Imagine calling oneself left wing and then writing an anti-leftist post three days before voting opens in a general election.
Shocking lack of solidarity in doing such a thing. Sadly, I think Chris now sees himself as a prophet in the wilderness – and his faithless people will be cast into perdition unless they turn to him for forgiveness and guidance. Grandiosity pervades his work now, though sometimes there is a snippet of his old clarity which I used to enjoy years ago.
Irony? Dunno, but I agree that it's a significant angle which reveals political psychology dimensions in the relation of advocate to cause!
I can't see anything ironic about it. It's just stupid and selfish. He's not the only leftie that is ok with the left losing this election, but all of it is daft.
Fully agree weka!
Trotter stood still, we moved, and he's sad.
AD- Yes the left moved on –
and Trotter puts the finger on it to where the GP is going:
"The Greens move away from the system-challenging principles upon which the international Green movement was founded: Ecological Wisdom. Social Justice. Participatory Democracy. Nonviolence; is instructive. Displaying a disconcerting facility for Orwellian rewording, the Green Party of Aotearoa now lists its own core principles as: Ecological Wisdom. Social Responsibility. Appropriate Decision Making. Non-Violence."
"The deletion of the words “justice”, “participatory” and “democracy”, amply confirms the Greens’ ideological trajectory: moving away from the emancipatory principles traditionally associated with the Left, and towards the uneasy marriage of technocratic “governance” and post-modern subjectivism so neatly personified in the party’s current co-leadership of James Shaw and Marama Davidson."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/09/28/losing-the-left/
If this is true, when did this happened and have the members been made aware of the new wording of its principles?
After I read Trotter argue against a CGT because people of his age did not like it, I placed him in the man of yesteryear category (aging into a conservative). Similar on some Maori issues, such as co-governance – but he does occasionally lapse into idealism mode to lash Labour for listening to him and others like him.
I have not read the article by the way … he writes different articles for different audiences because he writes well, and he can change the narrative to tell a story they can (each) appreciate.
Couple of good points there. Idealism must be tempered by pragmatism (story of my life) & his stance adapting to each audience makes him resemble a politician (all things to all people) & reminds us that the origins of trade got connected to local markets where you have to do a spiel to get customers.
Trotsky seems to have been bitten by the same snake oil salesman as Hutin.Spinning pure bs.Just to try and be relevant.
I'm enjoying having two credible left wing parties (TPM and Greens) getting some real publicity and profile lately!
Fair enough. I got no problem with TPM but can't count the GP as credible due to the censorship they did on a poor old feminist three years ago. Free speech is part of the ethos of the Greens – always has been. As a member of the GP at the time I got the verdict by email so I know the facts of the case. Totally fos: dumb buggers blew their credibility out of the water. Yet I had to keep quiet about it onsite here.
Looks to me like your antipathy for the Greens is clouding your judgement and perception (that's ironic).
We've had conversations here about what the Greens did to Jill, including ones you were involved with.
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/jill+abigail/?search_comments=true&search_sortby=date
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06-08-2020/#comment-1737686
Subsequently, that's true. Because I was a party member, I was under a moral obligation to keep quiet at the time. Team psychology. If I had reported it then I would have damaged the political reputation of my team.
I still have not reported the actual text of that email, nor have I disclosed it to any friends or ex-partners privately. I did describe the overall situation due to having to let them know why I intended to jump ship. Instead, I waited out the term of my annual membership and didn't renew and ignored all the reminders. As part of the feedback process they organised, I had given them my analysis of the ethics involved, so they are knowingly guilty of their breach.
I haven't even gone into my Greens sub-folder to re-examine their bullshit litany of feeble excuses. I still feel real bad about James getting roped into that but I know how leftists do things having been through it all before back in '94. That one involved actual deceit and apparently deliberate lying to the party conference about the agenda (a leading female activist) which I was formally responsible for due to being convenor of the SOC.
I am, in principle, willing to expose their lack of credibility via publishing the proof ( re both moral lapses) but continue to hope it won't necessary! I did get a formal apology for the first one (declared to the conference by the executive the following year, I was told by an insider friend who attended) & it's ancient history now. Re the second, the woman victimised was 80 three years ago and may be dead now. There was also a secondary victim: the editor (also female) who was forced to resign. The dim-witted morons do really need to get real about this sort of thing but I'm retired & not directly involved so feel no compulsion to alert them to their moral failings…
While it's great that the Commerce Commission finds its voice 3 days before voting on whether the Warehouse gets to sell Weetbix, on a poll of 1000 people, the vast majority want to see company super-profits taxed far harder.
"Asked if large companies should pay extra taxes on “unusually large profits”, 78% of respondents said yes. Just 13% of people disagreed with a windfall profits tax, with the remaining 9% unsure.
A smaller majority also supported some sort of capital gains tax. Asked if income from shares and property investments should be taxed like income, 62% said yes."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300979367/new-survey-shows-widespread-support-for-taxes-on-capital-gains-and-windfall-profits
Nearly same support for taxing property and share sale profits.
Have the Labour focus groups been out of focus?
It does make you think that Winston wasn’t half the handbrake PM Hipkins and Dame Jacinda were.
And that if they hadn’t been judged on their ability to respond and deal with some severe crisises, their on-going failure to deal with the structural issues in NZ society would have seen them judged much more harshly and much earlier by both the electorate and by history.
Well that's the foolishness of trying to judge political party performance by their policies.
Most of political performance is dealing what fate throws at you.
That's been the case since a series of them including:
– 1997 Asian Financial Crisis,
– 2001 consequence for NZ of 9/11,
– 2008-9 Global Financial Crisis,
– 2010-11 Christchurch earthquakes,
– 2010 Pike River Disaster,
– 2011 Rena Disaster,
– 2018 Christchurch terror attacks,
– 2019 White Island disaster,
– 2020-21 COVID outbreak,
– 2022 inflation and supply chain consequences of Russian invasion of Ukraine
– 2023 Gabrielle and other storm disasters …
… and that's what happens to transformational policy no matter who is in government.
It's a matter of degree in your list Ad, which is highly misleading.
At Pike River and White Island a few people got killed. The first Global Pandemic for several generations, Covid, has officially killed almost 7 million people (probably over 10 million) and many elements of the international economy ground to a halt for over two years and it is still recovering.
That is what this government has had to cope with. It handled Covid brilliantly-the economy still functioned well because we shut the borders, and its approach saved the lives of at least 11,500 kiwis compared with the UK deaths/million.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
I travelled for 5 weeks in WA recently. It was illuminating to talk to the locals who were just about the only other place in the world to successfully close their borders to Covid. They said it was great-the mines kept operating, the cafes were humming and they all bought 4wd’s and went camping in WA.
Crikey. Pike River itself was a Royal Commission, a full new Ministership and ministry, a substantial Crown Law and Police headache, and massive legislative change that affected over 60,000 construction workers and changed direct liabilities for every single company director.
Minimise if you like but it was no small matter for the government.
I beg to differ there newsense @ 5.1
If "Dame Jacinda" had announced a CGT tax last year, NACT and the tabloid media would have gone into overdrive spreading misinformation in the same way they have over three waters and co-governance. Most of those people who are now claiming they would like to see such a tax would have been squealing their heads off and wishing a pox on Labour's house. The same outcome would have occurred if Hipkins had announced earlier this year they would introduce a wealth tax.
It has been drummed into the minds of the populace at large that Labour = BAD. National = GOOD. The truth is the opposite, but a large portion of voters fall for the line time and again.
So National would oppose it so we should never try?
It definitely killed it as a political issue. Social justice lost.
3 waters is a classic of a failure to sell highly needed legislation.
A wealth tax is simpler to understand, especially after the way the government covid handouts transferred wealth up the ladder outrageously.
In fact Luxon’s landlord free pass is projected to make him millions better off.
Again the fact that Winston is calling for a tax free threshold and that the best Labour can counter with is GST off fruit and veges is poor.
Hipkins has made a number of calls which align with his philosophy, rather than the focus groups.
And geez, did Ad just compare Pike River to the pandemic response?
I mean…there’s a reason why the left is a bit f-d top to bottom.
The government’s response literally transferred wealth up the ladder. That is transformational class warfare…
You're onto it. I was pondering the merit of sending in this: "Hipkins oughta do a one-liner in his concession speech: Bugger the focus groups!" Decided it would be uncool at this point in the campaign…
Warehouse: "Let's sell Weetbix with a fair markup".
Foodstuffs/Woolworths: "Hey! Sanitarium! The Warehouse is seeling Weetbix $2 a box cheaper! It isn't fair, it makes us look bad wah wah wah!"
Sanitarium "That'll never do, no more Weetbix for you the Warehouse!"
Sanitarium is inferring it might be an inability to supply sufficient product to all outlets – but say … it's not policy to talk about production levels and supply issues.
So to summarise: CEOs are partisan twits who should be ignored by Labour.
To watch the shit eating Labour is going through only to see an uncosted, unfunded, inflationary plan called ‘pretty good’ by CEOs makes me think – fuck governing for them, be a goddam Labour Party! However neoliberal you play it, they just want the Nats.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/mood-of-the-boardroom-chief-executives-rank-government-ministers-and-national-leaders/7WYTXYS44VDUBJE77XYN7MF5YU/
Well – yes. They are mostly quite intelligent twits though. In any case – you describe nicely where the "third way" goes to die.
Aucklanders are in for 13% rate rises and 20% water charge rises, under Mayor Wayne Brown.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-council-pencils-in-sky-high-rates-and-water-bills-for-next-year/FCECF6LY6ZHWRJRV3UES2XLXSU/
Hard to see how a Mayor Collins would have been worse than this.
Obviously a lot of people are going to suffer, and gain nothing in service improvements for paying more money to Council. In fact more likely services get worse.
Wayne Brown wants city independence, but is going to lose the regional fuel money under any National government (and cover the time till congestion charging is allowed) and without Labour's three waters taking the water debt off their books, they are close to the debt cap – so up go the rates.
He may be secretly hoping for Labour to win.
Half the workers are only getting $10 a week tax cuts and facing higher water charging (as well as food and rents). The other half might be getting $25 but face the rates and water cost rise.
Many would be better under Labour coz of the likelihood of wage increases MW or under FPA industry awards. And maybe Greens 3% pa rent caps.
Auckland is going to be sad under any NACT government – even worse than Wellington (there job cults).
One has to wonder about the economic intelligence of workers that think they will do better under National.
But then no one said that racists were smart, look at the lot (LOUD FAT and UGLY) with red MAGA caps.
Increasing rates will be permanent as the cost of future climate change damage is added on to the cost of making up for past neglect (as in this case). This might make home ownership too operationally expensive for many, while also depressing the capital value of houses. That's a recipe for a further contraction of home ownership and gleeful buy ups of relatively cheap houses by mega landlords. Climate change has so many potential downsides it's frankly horrifying.
Climate Change…..Affects all.
Knowing a bit of the history regarding the West Coast..and Climate Change ….and IMO one of the main Climate Deniers : Alan Birchfield.
I was kinda gobsmacked to read this !
Alan Birchfield Climate Denier.."maybe" cost over $ 620,000. I wonder if the ratepayers care? I fucking would !
+100
Excellent reporting & I bet the shit hit the fan locally/regionally once the mental connection became evident. Mind you, coasters being rather slow on the uptake, could still be in the pipeline slowly moving towards consciousness.
Next govt has to pull finger re storm damage prevention design aka resilience strategy. Opinion leaders down there ought to be pointing that out in their advice re campaign relevance. Maybe they already are…
see this is irony. Anti-green culture on the coast for decades has meant the voting in of climate denier councillors and mayors. Now the coast is one of the first places to be forced to adapt by extreme weather events.
Let's see how many climate deniers get voted in next time. 2023 general election voting patterns should say something too. Some people are slow to change.
I have great Respect for Green people who live on the Coast. Having had "some" attacks on me for my Green..(Greenie.. as an insult.. !) and Left (are you a commie..! ) viewpoint in the Otago area…I can but imagine what it must be like…
And maybe Alan Birchfield..as a dinosaur (equivalent brain size?) and his type..are slowly becoming extinct ? I however, do fear a NActFirst Govt would re-gene them. Fight back the Left !
So here's the Nat master-plan:
How simple, that political logic: `our election bribe's bigger than yours, na na na nah na'.
Most of the reduction in debt ($3.4b) comes from less money going to those on benefits.
The $250 figure includes $150 only available to those with children under 5 (and only if they spend more money than that on child care – child under 3 or a lot of hours 3-5).
And Labour's free hours care for those 2-3 is worth as much (an extension of the 3-5 free hours to 2 to 5).
The number of families involved is probably about an 8th (children aged 5-10, 10-15 15-20 etc 3/4) at most – given about an 8th have a FT parent till the child is 2 and are then PT workers (around the free child care hours).
So redistribute wealth upwards from the bottom to the "squeezed middle" ?
Or in expanded form: "redistribute wealth upwards from everyone at the bottom including those with young kids, to the "squeezed middle" with young kids?
And all based on the presumption that their tax policy is sound …
Rob the poor to give the well off property hoarders who made billions over the pandemic while the squeezed middle and poor are doing it hard very hard. Nationals tax cuts only benefit the wealthy while dumping that amount of money into the property market will force house prices even higher.
Law and order.
Does anyone have access to National Party manifesto/election commitments over the last 70 years regarding their intentions to get tough on/stamp out crime? And does anyone have the figures to show that, with all their time occupying the government benches, just what they achieved? I suspect zilch – but it captures the emotions every election.
I think I have read here before that the "gang problem" might rapidly decline if they were to lose their source of income – drug dealing. Perhaps if possession and use of all drugs was decriminalised two issues could be tackled and solved very readily.
Tova investigates candidates who like to discriminate against minority groups:
Strikes me Seymour's reasoning here is likewise "tenuous at best.” Then we got this from the other rightist aspiring tail-wagger party:
Imagine NZF candidates cruising collaboratively around cemeteries with bluetooth detectors, then wonder if Winston would agree it's public-spirited behaviour…
If the great United States can have the likes of Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene in government there’s plenty of scope for us to have a lunatic or two.
Seymour is saying that political candidates can unreflectively blurt whatever they like and nobody should care or read anything into it – ever. I'm all for forgiving occasional outbreaks of stupidity from ordinary citizens – but patterns of it from candidates for high public office? In any case, it's a standard that everyone should remember and hold Seymour to in future.
Seymour is the first one to pour on the criticism if any Labour,Green or TPM office holder always saying they should resign immediatly its time for Seymour to live up to his own standard.
Is Mathew Hooton asking National voters to party vote the Greens……….or anyone else not wanting Luxon to have to speed dial Winston………
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/election-2023-national-plus-the-greens-a-teal-deal-is-a-real-possibility-matthew-hooton/QXZIUJNYERAWJALJPV3AJT57XM/
Blue boat sinking….abandon ship……wait wait…..look look over there…..a green straw…..
The Machiavellian mind is a mystery. Who knows what Hooton is up to except Hooton himself – and maybe not even him. I think he wants to:
At 20% the greens become contenders, it'll teach labour for being gutless on reform and for taking the greens for granted.
And and and wipe out Winston and weaken act back to lap dog status
Well..this is pretty much where they are at…
On that…
Its definitely not looking quite so fine for NAct ..now!
NZ First….the spare party. That nobody wants. Cmon Labour Green Te Pati Maori !
I still think that Winston has a problem this election. While the rolling polls may be showing him creeping over the 5%, but not by much, many wavering voters of the Right will plump for National not NZF because he made Jacinda PM. They hated this with a vengeance. At the same time nobody with any brain cells on the Left will vote for NZF because they know that if he gets 5% he will put National in power.
In previous elections these two factors haven't existed to anything like the same degree.
I was wavering yesterday due to the handbrake on nact theory then I read some of Winston's fb post last night, fucker has jumped the shark in his pursuit of staying relevant, no more happy days for him hopefully.!
Best example?
The only time I've tried to link to fb here it appeared to leave the door open to my acc, now I realize I'm pretty unimportant in the scheme of things but wasn't keen on doxxing myself.
Was nutty shit about labour,
Well done bwag….I agree that handbrake theory doesn't really work when NZF have moved into the crazy part of the political spectrum.
Its still there ..to win for the Left. !
It could get dangerous for Politicians in the Election run up. Be careful out there… esp we on the Left ! Angela Roberts : Labour
WTAF !
and.. while I dont esp like Nat Barbara Kuriger ..good on her for helping Angela afterwards.
Where was security? Why wasn't that reported to the Police?
That is a double assault. Shake, then slap on both cheeks!! wow just wow.
Who was that guy.?. someone must know.. report him.
How would you feel if that was your G-mother// mother /daughter/friend?
Yea, I am appalled by it. And yep, i think Politicians…(heads up to Left and supporters !) should be aware…and take care.
As to, at that event….absolutely someone must know who that bully creep was.
I suppose we take it for granted that our political candidates are more or less safe on the campaign hustings and it is a bit of shock when this happens.]
I guess we should give thanks that we aren't like India where no election has ever happened without at least one candidate being murdered, plus countless more assaults.
Co-incidentally, yesterday I was chatting to an antiques shop owner in Featherston and we were discussing what she termed "a nasty element to this election". I agreed that there is an unpleasant undercurrent to this election, to the likes I have not seen before.
James Shaw Green Co leader, was previously attacked by a conspiracy fkwit…knocked down…left with a broken eye socket.
IMO Left Politicians…need to be extra aware, and …take care.
Story of the day for me:
'Life drawing class ejected from community centre after nude model mishap during fire drill.'
There are a hundred sides to every story and we'll take the version we want from this one I suppose.
There may have been issues before which has seen a 'last straw' situation arise. The group may have had countless warnings and hadn't abided by necessary rulings – hadn't played ball. Arty farty independent types and all.
Or some jumped up little twerp was making their mark on the world.
Creative minds will go to work no doubt and when the group finds a new venue the new title might be something like 'Get an Effing Life Life Class.'