I think he must have been reading Paul Erdman’s book “The Crash of ’79” over the summer.
Great read actually, as long as you can suspend belief for a while.
“This would become NZ’s biggest diplomatic disaster since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. But this one sheeted direct to Key.”
You have a most peculiar view of what is a diplomatic disaster for a country and who is responsible for one.
How would it possibly be Key’s fault if Obama can’t get something through Congress?
Or if the Diet plays up? Or if Trudeau delays ratification?
As for the sinking of The Rainbow Warrior. What was the diplomatic disaster for New Zealand in that? It was one for France. The only awkward part for New Zealand was Lange having to give in to the realpolitik of the world and having to let the agents out.
At least he told us about it.
A pity Helen Clark wasn’t so open about the effect of the 2001 actions of Australia. One line in a Australian Government Press release and nothing when she got home. That one really has turned out to be a disaster.
Well I did say that didn’t I? “The only awkward part for New Zealand was Lange having to give in to the realpolitik of the world and having to let the agents out”
I don’t regard that as having been a diplomatic disaster. There wasn’t a damn thing we could do but let them go.
“realpolitik”? Sure ,but there wasn’t any option as France were going to screw us over access to Europe. The disaster was to France for being caught out.
Pat. As in NZ I guess the politicians must weigh up the balance of reaction to with-holding critical information, against the damage done if the peasants knew just what would happen to their country if they knew the contents of a deal. And long after the current crop of MPs have moved on, the legacy remains.
Hard to see Japan not ratifying. They are a parliamentary democracy like us. In short the govt has a majority in parliament. If the LDP split on the necessary votes, then the PM would have to resign. Could happen but not likely.
Canada probably will wait for the US. Again it is unlikely Canada would not ratify if the US did.
So the focus is really on the US, as indeed it always has been.
In my view Congress will vote yes. The great majority of Republicans will vote for it. Some Democrats (though not many) will vote for it. Therefore it is most likely to go through.
Members of Congress will know that if they vote against, most other Asia Pacific nations will give up on the US as being able to deliver on this and many other things. The focus then goes to the RCEP, which has China as the centrepoint. RCEP is not as good as TPP in terms of trade and economic integration, but it would be the only game in town. Which is why I think TPP will get across the line in the US Congress. President Obama, in his State of Nation address, could hardly have been more specific on the China/US leadership point.
Important to note that the American and Japanese corporate elite have the most to gain from the TPP.
Hard to see Japan not ratifying. They are a parliamentary democracy like us. In short the govt has a majority in parliament.
You have a weird concept of “democracy”, Wayne. Reminder: democracy is about government of the people, for the people, by the people. Not government of the millionaires, for the millionaires, by the millionaires.
Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari, one of the TPP’s chief negotiators, has been accused of accepting more than $148,000 in bribes from a major construction company. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35427563
Just days before world leaders are expected to sign the undemocratic Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a top official in charge of negotiating the agreement has been charged with accepting bribes.
Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari, one of the TPP’s chief negotiators, has been accused of accepting more than $148,000 in bribes from a major construction company.
This is exactly why policy that affects billions of people and our Internet freedom should never be made in secret. This is exactly why we need to stop the TPP.
Deadline Friday: Click here to tell President Obama not to sign the TPP on February 4th and demand a full investigation into this corruption.
The TPP was drafted in closed door meetings by corporate lobbyists and government officials like Akira Amari, while journalists, human rights advocates, and the public were locked out.
How many other politicians involved in drafting the TPP have been taking bribes?
We can only assume.
But the results speak for themselves. Chapter after chapter the TPP prioritizes special interests over public interests.
It contains unbalanced copyright provisions that could lead to Internet censorship, and affects everything from jobs to the environment to access to medicines to national sovereignty.
Time is running out to stop the TPP. But the scandal surrounding these bribery allegations might be enough to delay things,
______________________________________________
Are corporates also bribing New Zealand politicians?
…We need declarations of honesty and anti-corruption in Parliament that ALL New Zealand politicians who support the TPP are not being paid to do so by corporate bribes or back handers.
New Zealand politicians who are supporting the anti -democratic signing of the TPP…MUST be held to ACCOUNT
(they are NOT working in the interests of New Zealanders and democracy and sovereignty and they are working for corporate interests against the wishes of the majority of New Zealanders)
On a completely unrelated subject, well done to whoever posted it. I can actually watch it at work…can’t get anything from stuff or nzherald to work but this comes through no problems
Behave yourself Weka. Such comments are very likely to get lprent going. It seems awfully close to the line in the policy that warns about not doing things that
“invades the privacy of people outside the public domain”
I am sure you wouldn’t really want anyone to be allowed to enquire what your position was in the Green Leader’s Office or something similar.
PR and I are having a bit of fun (maybe Molly too). It’s a running joke that PR is a paid astroturfer, a joke he partakes of, just as he has done above.
But even if it wasn’t, it begs the question of why you would use that to give me a veiled threat. I routinely call you out on your lies about the Green Party, but your comments to me too often have something personal about them. It is creepy.
I’m glad to see it, as it looks like other commitments will prevent me making it to tonight’s Dunedin talk after all (7pm Burns Hall by First Church), and I only saw the start of the livestream. Looking forward to the protest on Saturday though, hopefully the heavy-handed intimidation tactics from the police will prove to be the best possible call to action for the day.
Worth reading in consideration of the discussion on the TPPA:
We are in Seattle arguing for a world trade system that puts basic human rights and the environment at its core. We have the most powerful corporations of the world ranged against us. They own the media that informs us – or fails to inform us. And they probably own the politicians too.
It’s enough to make anybody feel a little edgy.
So here’s a question for the world trade negotiators. Who is the system you are lavishing so much attention on supposed to serve?
We can ask the same question of the gleaming towers of Wall Street or the City of London – and the powerful men and women who tinker with the money system which drives world trade. Who is this system for?
Let’s look more closely. Every day, the gleaming towers of high finance oversees a global flow of two trillion dollars through their computer screens. And the terrifying thing is that only three per cent of that – that’s, three hundredths – has anything to do with trade at all. Let alone free trade between equal communities.
It has everything to do with money. The great global myth being that the current world trade system is for anything but money.
The other 97 per cent of the two trillion is speculation. It is froth – but froth with terrifying power over people’s lives. Reducing powerless communities access to basic human rights can make money, but not for them. But then the system isn’t designed for them. …
…The truth is that the WTO, and the group of unelected trade officials who run it, are now the world’s highest court, with the right to overturn local laws and safety regulations wherever they say it ‘interferes with trade’.
This is world government by default, but it is a blind government. It looks at the measurements of money, but it can’t see anything else. It can recognise profits and losses, but it deliberately turns its face away from human rights, child labour or keeping the environment viable for future generations….
…Now there will be commentators and politicians by the truckload over the next week accusing us of wanting to turn the clock back. They will say we are parochial, inward-looking, xenophobic and dangerous.
But we must remind them what free trade really is. The truth is that ‘free trade’ was originally about the freedom of communities to trade equally with each other. It was never intended to be what it is today. A licence for the big, the powerful and the rich, to ride roughshod over the small, the weak and the poor.
And while we’re about it, let’s nail another myth.
Nobody could be more in favour of a global outlook than I am. Internationalism means that we can see into the dark corners of the world, and hold those companies to account when they are devastating forests or employing children as bonded labour. Globalisation is the complete opposite, its rules pit country against country and workers against workers in the blinkered pursuit of international competitiveness….
…Let’s be clear about this. It’s not trade we’re against, it’s exploitation and unchecked power.…
…Community trade will make us not a multi-national, but a multi-local. I hope we can measure our success in terms of our ability to show just what’s possible if a company genuinely opens a dialogue with communities.
Heaven knows, we’re not there yet. But this is real life, and all any of us can do is to make sure we are going in the right direction, and never lose our determination to improve.
The trouble is that the current trading system undermines anybody who tries.
Businesses which forego profits to build communities, or keep production local rather than employing semi-slaves in distant sweatshops, risk losing business to cheaper competitors without such commitments, and being targeted for take-over by the slash-and-burn corporate raiders. Reinforced by the weight of the WTO…
And finally, we must remember we already have power as consumers and as organisations forming strategic and increasingly influential alliances for change. They can insist on open markets as much as they like, but if consumers won’t buy, nothing on earth can make them. Just look at how European consumers have forced the biotech industry’s back up against the wall.
…We have to be political consumers, vigilante consumers. With the barrage of propaganda served up to us every day, we have to be. We must be wise enough so that – whatever they may decide at the trade talks – we know where to put our energy and our money. No matter what we’re told or cajoled to do, we must work together to get the truth out in co-operation for the best, not competition for the cheapest…”
Worth having a look at the whole speech, which she gave in Seattle in 1999.
Global trade without global responsibility is exploitation.
A Brisbane mining minnow that raised less than $750,000 from investors before inking a deal to buy a coalmine must now guarantee it can pay more than $120m to clean up the site upon closure.
Batchfire Resources’ agreement to buy a central Queensland mine from Anglo American highlights a growing shift by global coal giants away from less-profitable mines, leaving the fate of expensive environmental rehabilitation in the hands of companies with far fewer resources.
One analyst said this in turn raised the risks that taxpayers would ultimately be forced to bail out miners if they failed or “financial assurance” regimes run by state governments proved inadequate – as was found in a Queensland government report less than two years ago.
Frankly I would see all the assets of Anglo-American stripped, including those of all the directors and anyone with a C in their job title. Then a 10 year prison term.
I don’t know whether it still exists but there was a company in New Zealand that raised a share capital of $2,000 dollars and then developed a series of on-shore and off-shore gas fields in New Zealand.
Would you treat them the same way?
I don’t know about the example you have in mind. Insufficient information.
But in this case the tactic being used here is a blatant attempt to avoid the cost of remediating the site, a liability Anglo clearly signed up to when it opened the site, by exploiting a legal loophole.
Another tactic commonly used is to never actually close the site, but to put it in ‘care and maintenance’ with a skeleton security crew … thus the remediation requirement never kicks in.
This is partly an industry problem. There are some miners who DO take their obligations, their ‘social license to operate’ obligations seriously; while others take the criminal path by devising dodges to avoid them. And part of it is a governance issue where politicians like Tony Abbott have been corrupted by the influence of big money to deliberately allow these loopholes to remain.
The solution is not more footling with loopholes and legal maneuvers. Legislation that puts severe personal liability onto the senior decision makers in large corporates will modify behaviour quick smart.
It wasn’t a fair question. It actually existed although whether its share capital is the same today I don’t know.
It was set up as Shell BP and Todd Oil Services Ltd and became Shell Todd Oil Services in 1990 when BP bought out Todd. It developed and ran Kapuni and Maui when it had that theoretical capital structure.
And yes, the share capital really was $2,000.
It is not in the category you are talking about though. At least I don’t think so.
And yes, I agree with you about what companies can get up too. Rather like so many builders and developers who set up a different company for every building and then liquidate them to avoid such things as leaky building claims.
Governments also get up to tricks though. BP have been screwed by the US Government, the State Governments and the US courts over the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Claim and you will receive seems to have been the result even for businesses that had closed down months before the spill ever happened.
I am not trying to defend BP, who totally messed up there but as a foreign company they have been shafted. That affair will probably go on for another 25 years.
“under this name in 1955 is still operating”
Really?
As you would see if you have read the comment you linked to it became “became Shell Todd Oil Services in 1990 when BP bought out Todd”. Do both the old and new name companies co-exist?
However what I didn’t know was also in this comment. It was whether a $2,000 capital company still existed. As I say “whether its share capital is the same today I don’t know”.
Did you manage to find that? I couldn’t so I put in the I don’t know bit.
And it incenses me that, once big agriculture had made a fortune out of our water, they handed us the bill to get it cleaned up again.
This is called externalising costs. If there were any fair play – any real justice – at work here, polluters would pay for the costs incurred by their profiteering.
But in New Zealand, they make you do it. It’s cheaper for Dame Sian to let her cows go wading in your lake than to fork out for farm dams or troughs, and too few people are angry enough to change that.
We really, really do need to ensure that all costs of business are met by that business. The market doesn’t actually work unless they do.
‘The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear’ – Antonio Gramsci
Is New Zealand’s political settlement beginning to fray? And does this mean we’re entering the interregnum, that ambiguous moment between society-wide discontent and political change? In BWB’s latest book of essays, edited by Morgan Godfery, ten of New Zealand’s sharpest emerging thinkers gather to debate the ‘morbid symptoms’ of the current moment, from precarious work to climate change, and to discuss what shape change might take, from ‘the politics of love’ to postcapitalism.
The Interregnum interrogates the future from the perspective of the generation who will shape it.
The guy is obviously not an Obama voter, or a fan of “corporations”. Wonder if he realises that Nestle is a foreign trans-national corporation. That might have really got him going…
The sovereignty issues that we’re concerned about will be just as great in USA as here. I just can’t see this going through. Foreign corporations able to run a ruler over US laws and able to sue US govt for favouring US firms, na, not going to fly…
One of the Five Eyes seems to be blinking…. a good article on The Intercept about Canada’s moves to protect citizen’s privacy before letting “key allies” access data.
Mind you, one of the comments below is probably fairly accurate: Wnt: “First law: Whenever a spy program becomes publicized, it will be discontinued, because spies don’t make a business of doing things that aren’t secret.
Second law: When spies discontinue a program, it means one thing and one thing only: they’ve initiated some other program doing the same thing far more extensively.
“
Hard to say what Trotter is on about there tbh. Most of the article is basically saying that Treasury can’t be trusted (which is probably why the GP proposal is for an independent unit within Treasury). The bit at the end is nonsense, but I’d hazard a guess he is just taking the piss to make a point and isn’t really suggesting that the GP’s proposal is a lead in to forming govt with National.
Yemen is a human-made disaster, and the fingerprints of the west are all over it. Consider what a UN panel report seen by this newspaper has revealed: that airstrikes have targeted “civilians and civilian objects, in violation of humanitarian law”, including everything from refugee camps to schools to weddings to buses.
The West is presently turning the ME into a bloodbath in an apparent attempt to boost one or two particular countries dominance of the area. This appears to be so that the US/UK can access all of the oil under the sands.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title 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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
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 ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
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Former ACT MP and prominent conservative commentator calls for nuclear attacks on Middle Eastern cities: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/david-garrett-and-peace-of-dead.html
I think he must have been reading Paul Erdman’s book “The Crash of ’79” over the summer.
Great read actually, as long as you can suspend belief for a while.
If US, Canada and Japan don’t ratify TPPA, it’s hard to see it surviving.
This would become NZ’s biggest diplomatic disaster since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. But this one sheeted direct to Key.
Richard III: “I am so far in that sin must pluck on sin.”
Quite a high chance all 3 will fold on it.
“This would become NZ’s biggest diplomatic disaster since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. But this one sheeted direct to Key.”
You have a most peculiar view of what is a diplomatic disaster for a country and who is responsible for one.
How would it possibly be Key’s fault if Obama can’t get something through Congress?
Or if the Diet plays up? Or if Trudeau delays ratification?
As for the sinking of The Rainbow Warrior. What was the diplomatic disaster for New Zealand in that? It was one for France. The only awkward part for New Zealand was Lange having to give in to the realpolitik of the world and having to let the agents out.
At least he told us about it.
A pity Helen Clark wasn’t so open about the effect of the 2001 actions of Australia. One line in a Australian Government Press release and nothing when she got home. That one really has turned out to be a disaster.
The fact that the perpetrators walked free.
Well I did say that didn’t I? “The only awkward part for New Zealand was Lange having to give in to the realpolitik of the world and having to let the agents out”
I don’t regard that as having been a diplomatic disaster. There wasn’t a damn thing we could do but let them go.
“realpolitik”? Sure ,but there wasn’t any option as France were going to screw us over access to Europe. The disaster was to France for being caught out.
What would you have had Lange do?
Keep them in prison here.
They could have had an accident.
What a great quote – and it sounds so contemporary “I am so far in” as in “are you in”
Sin plucking on sin reminds me of vultures.
Griffon vultures are actually an endangered species now. They are a beautiful bird – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x1hT5SONUg
yeah, I was thinking it was unfair to compare vultures to Key and co.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/26/anger-government-blocks-ttip-legal-documents-nhs-health-service
Pat. As in NZ I guess the politicians must weigh up the balance of reaction to with-holding critical information, against the damage done if the peasants knew just what would happen to their country if they knew the contents of a deal. And long after the current crop of MPs have moved on, the legacy remains.
Ad,
Hard to see Japan not ratifying. They are a parliamentary democracy like us. In short the govt has a majority in parliament. If the LDP split on the necessary votes, then the PM would have to resign. Could happen but not likely.
Canada probably will wait for the US. Again it is unlikely Canada would not ratify if the US did.
So the focus is really on the US, as indeed it always has been.
In my view Congress will vote yes. The great majority of Republicans will vote for it. Some Democrats (though not many) will vote for it. Therefore it is most likely to go through.
Members of Congress will know that if they vote against, most other Asia Pacific nations will give up on the US as being able to deliver on this and many other things. The focus then goes to the RCEP, which has China as the centrepoint. RCEP is not as good as TPP in terms of trade and economic integration, but it would be the only game in town. Which is why I think TPP will get across the line in the US Congress. President Obama, in his State of Nation address, could hardly have been more specific on the China/US leadership point.
Congress will only ratify once all other TPP countries have ratified to Congress’ satisfaction.
Spouting obvious misinformation undermines your credibility.
@Wayne.
Well done! You refrained from calling the TPPA a “free trade agreement”.
There’s a saying about old dogs and new tricks….
Important to note that the American and Japanese corporate elite have the most to gain from the TPP.
You have a weird concept of “democracy”, Wayne. Reminder: democracy is about government of the people, for the people, by the people. Not government of the millionaires, for the millionaires, by the millionaires.
Seen THIS?
Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari, one of the TPP’s chief negotiators, has been accused of accepting more than $148,000 in bribes from a major construction company.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35427563
Just days before world leaders are expected to sign the undemocratic Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a top official in charge of negotiating the agreement has been charged with accepting bribes.
Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari, one of the TPP’s chief negotiators, has been accused of accepting more than $148,000 in bribes from a major construction company.
This is exactly why policy that affects billions of people and our Internet freedom should never be made in secret. This is exactly why we need to stop the TPP.
Deadline Friday: Click here to tell President Obama not to sign the TPP on February 4th and demand a full investigation into this corruption.
The TPP was drafted in closed door meetings by corporate lobbyists and government officials like Akira Amari, while journalists, human rights advocates, and the public were locked out.
How many other politicians involved in drafting the TPP have been taking bribes?
We can only assume.
But the results speak for themselves. Chapter after chapter the TPP prioritizes special interests over public interests.
It contains unbalanced copyright provisions that could lead to Internet censorship, and affects everything from jobs to the environment to access to medicines to national sovereignty.
Time is running out to stop the TPP. But the scandal surrounding these bribery allegations might be enough to delay things,
______________________________________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
+100 Penny….well said …. so the corporates are bribing Japanese politicians to support TPP?
Well they are also bribing US politicians !
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/27/corporations-paid-us-senators-fast-track-tpp
Are corporates also bribing New Zealand politicians?
…We need declarations of honesty and anti-corruption in Parliament that ALL New Zealand politicians who support the TPP are not being paid to do so by corporate bribes or back handers.
New Zealand politicians who are supporting the anti -democratic signing of the TPP…MUST be held to ACCOUNT
(they are NOT working in the interests of New Zealanders and democracy and sovereignty and they are working for corporate interests against the wishes of the majority of New Zealanders)
Video from Tues night’s TTPA meeting is up now,
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/01/28/exclusive-tppa-auckland-town-halling-meeting/
On a completely unrelated subject, well done to whoever posted it. I can actually watch it at work…can’t get anything from stuff or nzherald to work but this comes through no problems
Do they recruit often at your place of work?
I only ask because you seem to have a lot of unoccupied paid time to visit this site, and clearly logical thought processes are not required.
(Oh, are you the ACT membership office?)
And does your employer know you use worktime to do paid work for Crosby Textor?
You wouldn’t believe who my employers are…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory)
Behave yourself Weka. Such comments are very likely to get lprent going. It seems awfully close to the line in the policy that warns about not doing things that
“invades the privacy of people outside the public domain”
I am sure you wouldn’t really want anyone to be allowed to enquire what your position was in the Green Leader’s Office or something similar.
🙄 Back to being a creep I see alwyn.
PR and I are having a bit of fun (maybe Molly too). It’s a running joke that PR is a paid astroturfer, a joke he partakes of, just as he has done above.
But even if it wasn’t, it begs the question of why you would use that to give me a veiled threat. I routinely call you out on your lies about the Green Party, but your comments to me too often have something personal about them. It is creepy.
the pays fantastic but it does sometimes take a while for the invoices to be paid
🙂
weka
I’m glad to see it, as it looks like other commitments will prevent me making it to tonight’s Dunedin talk after all (7pm Burns Hall by First Church), and I only saw the start of the livestream. Looking forward to the protest on Saturday though, hopefully the heavy-handed intimidation tactics from the police will prove to be the best possible call to action for the day.
Came across Anita Roddicks “Trading with Principles” speech while looking for something else.
Worth reading in consideration of the discussion on the TPPA:
Worth having a look at the whole speech, which she gave in Seattle in 1999.
Global trade without global responsibility is exploitation.
…
Well she was bang on there, thanks for the post
This kind of thing is infuriating:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/29/coal-giants-abandon-unprofitable-mines-leaving-rehabilitation-under-threat
Frankly I would see all the assets of Anglo-American stripped, including those of all the directors and anyone with a C in their job title. Then a 10 year prison term.
Flagrant arrogance and criminality.
I don’t know whether it still exists but there was a company in New Zealand that raised a share capital of $2,000 dollars and then developed a series of on-shore and off-shore gas fields in New Zealand.
Would you treat them the same way?
I don’t know about the example you have in mind. Insufficient information.
But in this case the tactic being used here is a blatant attempt to avoid the cost of remediating the site, a liability Anglo clearly signed up to when it opened the site, by exploiting a legal loophole.
Another tactic commonly used is to never actually close the site, but to put it in ‘care and maintenance’ with a skeleton security crew … thus the remediation requirement never kicks in.
This is partly an industry problem. There are some miners who DO take their obligations, their ‘social license to operate’ obligations seriously; while others take the criminal path by devising dodges to avoid them. And part of it is a governance issue where politicians like Tony Abbott have been corrupted by the influence of big money to deliberately allow these loopholes to remain.
The solution is not more footling with loopholes and legal maneuvers. Legislation that puts severe personal liability onto the senior decision makers in large corporates will modify behaviour quick smart.
It wasn’t a fair question. It actually existed although whether its share capital is the same today I don’t know.
It was set up as Shell BP and Todd Oil Services Ltd and became Shell Todd Oil Services in 1990 when BP bought out Todd. It developed and ran Kapuni and Maui when it had that theoretical capital structure.
And yes, the share capital really was $2,000.
It is not in the category you are talking about though. At least I don’t think so.
And yes, I agree with you about what companies can get up too. Rather like so many builders and developers who set up a different company for every building and then liquidate them to avoid such things as leaky building claims.
Governments also get up to tricks though. BP have been screwed by the US Government, the State Governments and the US courts over the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Claim and you will receive seems to have been the result even for businesses that had closed down months before the spill ever happened.
I am not trying to defend BP, who totally messed up there but as a foreign company they have been shafted. That affair will probably go on for another 25 years.
Not one for linking are you Alwyn. A quick check on the Companies website shows that a company formed under this name in 1955 is still operating.
And I don’t understand what your reference to “tricks” is. Do you have a link and/or explanation of what you mean?
“under this name in 1955 is still operating”
Really?
As you would see if you have read the comment you linked to it became “became Shell Todd Oil Services in 1990 when BP bought out Todd”. Do both the old and new name companies co-exist?
However what I didn’t know was also in this comment. It was whether a $2,000 capital company still existed. As I say “whether its share capital is the same today I don’t know”.
Did you manage to find that? I couldn’t so I put in the I don’t know bit.
I take it you failed?
Wow, no law in place to ensure the company that created and profited from the pollution is held accountable?
easy enough to setup a dummy company to buy out your site , and save you cleanup costs then.
someone should look at who is connected to the new company, any connections to the Anglo Americans investors and lawyers
Along the same lines:
We really, really do need to ensure that all costs of business are met by that business. The market doesn’t actually work unless they do.
The Interregnum
Looks like it will be worth the read.
Thanks for the tip; I hope to get a chance to read it one day.
The title is meek; they should have called it Drawback.
I’m intrigued by the language in this clip,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/drinks/76335438/us-mans-simple-hack-to-save-on-costly-nespresso-pods
The guy is obviously not an Obama voter, or a fan of “corporations”. Wonder if he realises that Nestle is a foreign trans-national corporation. That might have really got him going…
The sovereignty issues that we’re concerned about will be just as great in USA as here. I just can’t see this going through. Foreign corporations able to run a ruler over US laws and able to sue US govt for favouring US firms, na, not going to fly…
One of the Five Eyes seems to be blinking…. a good article on The Intercept about Canada’s moves to protect citizen’s privacy before letting “key allies” access data.
Canada cuts off some intelligence sharing with the US out of fear for Canadian’s privacy.
Mind you, one of the comments below is probably fairly accurate:
Wnt: “First law: Whenever a spy program becomes publicized, it will be discontinued, because spies don’t make a business of doing things that aren’t secret.
Second law: When spies discontinue a program, it means one thing and one thing only: they’ve initiated some other program doing the same thing far more extensively.
“
those pesky Lefties beating Harper out of government…
To be fair Harper was only in power for nine years, imagine if a right wing leader of NZ was in power for longer
Wrong again
The lefties didn’t get voted in, Harper got voted out, because he was so disliked by so many, too far to the right.
I assume that Chris Trotter thinks that that kind Mr Key is trying to save the Green Party from their own foolishness?
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/arriving-from-or-departing-for-another.html
Say “Thank you Mr Key”, Meteria.
Hard to say what Trotter is on about there tbh. Most of the article is basically saying that Treasury can’t be trusted (which is probably why the GP proposal is for an independent unit within Treasury). The bit at the end is nonsense, but I’d hazard a guess he is just taking the piss to make a point and isn’t really suggesting that the GP’s proposal is a lead in to forming govt with National.
Wow, I mean just wow
I could say that’s harsh but that’s such an understatement
Britain is at war with Yemen. So why does nobody know about it?
The West is presently turning the ME into a bloodbath in an apparent attempt to boost one or two particular countries dominance of the area. This appears to be so that the US/UK can access all of the oil under the sands.