There is a reasonable chance on one more term for Slippery (I say this mainly because of the TV debates), but I suspect that Key will want to slit his own wrists before putting up with the pain of a 4th lame duck term in office.
However the polls are right – Labour are in with a chance but I believe that chance relies entirely on either Winston, or on the Greens hitting no less than 14% to 15%. One question which no done has answered for me: will Labour be brave enough to include Hone in the next coalition, in Cabinet. Or will they try and hold the radical extreme left maori guy that the middle class thinks is fringe and dangerous, out at arms length.
Shearer is going to need a lot of training if he is to succeed in the debates.
Also if the economy doesn’t tank or if power prices remain static then Key will have a ‘told you so’ angle so yeah, a third term is highly possible.
My general feeling is the public generally want to change after 9 years, no matter who is in charge which is why I couldn’t see a 4th term IMO.
Dumping Shearer now is the only sane course of action. The Labour caucus is divided and broken. The sooner the broken parts are swept aside, the better. One of the worst things that I can see happening would be for the present front bench to run the country, which they’d do in much the same way Key is. That would be the death knell of the parliamentary left for a generation. Mana and the Greens are not yet in a position to fully take over and, even though parliament is largely a sideshow, it is a highly visible one.
They have some inspiring people. Give them a chance. If Cunliffe is on top of a bus talking, at least workers are in the street listening. When Shearer mumbles and makes excuses, who can be bothered listening? What do Mallard and Hipkins stand for except themselves? What do they have to say about the invasion of the Urewera that happened on their watch? Pffft. Let them go. Make them go.
You and all the other righties backed Shearer over Cunliffe from the start of Labour’s leadership campaign. You did this because you were afraid of Cunliffe and you knew the right’s best chance of success was to have Shearer in charge.
Now when you think it is too late to change you are dumping on Shearer.
Little bit skeptical Mr Hooton.
I think you always knew he’d be:
a) hopeless
b) in favour of the neo-liberal project your puppet masters benefit from.
Isn’t that why you encouraged him to go for the job at that bbq?
Labour are in a mess because they have a poor leader.
Isn’t this what you always wanted?
Everyone is amazed – I’m sure even hoots is amazed how the circumstances have changed so much that he had to completely reverse a weeks-old assessment.
Or maybe things have merely altered in their own, gradual way, passing no major threshold or “tipping point” one way or the other, and hoot’s reversal is simply the result of his natural spin cycle. In which case I reckon it does not cause amazement for anyone 🙂
It’s not so long ago you and every other National Party operative in the country was praising Shearer, and lobbying for his appointment as Labour leader as enthusiastically as anybody in his official team.
There’s a football analogy for this nasty manipulation of the unwitting. Back in 1966 the All Blacks pulled off a similar coup over the management of the touring British Lions. Whenever journalists asked anyone in the All Blacks who impressed them the most in the tourists, they always said “the captain, Campbell-Lamerton”. They made sure to praise Campbell-Lamerton with special fervour and generosity after every test, when the Lions were disconsolately licking their wounds. Of course, anyone with any nous knew that Campbell-Lamerton was not up to the task of playing test football. The All Blacks wanted the Lions to keep selecting him in the test team, where he was repeatedly outclassed, indeed destroyed, by the Meads brothers, Waka Nathan, Kel Tremain and the rest of the formidable NZ pack, as the Lions lost all four tests.
Maybe someone should appoint you to a football team somewhere, Mr Hooton. After all, you couldn’t possibly be as controversial a choice as the war criminal that came down here in 2005 as the “manager” of the British & Irish Lions.
Rob/Felix/SP/Paul/Morrissey/Saarbo: It wasn’t like that at all. I had no preference of Shearer over Cunliffe until, yes, Shearer turned up to my post-election party and Cunliffe didn’t, after both were invited by – small country we live in – Martyn Bradbury. And Shearer impressed all the politicos there that day – from memory, as well as Martyn and some of his crowd like Phoebe Fletcher, there was Willie & JT, Matt McCarten, Sean Plunket, Fran O’Sullivan, John Pagani, Andrew Campbell from the Greens, Chris Trotter …. So it really wasn’t a right-wing conspiracy (in fact, Slater and Farrar refused to show up in protest that Martyn was invited) . What happened is that we all just thought Shearer would do a good job – “50 million lives vs 50 million dollars” etc – and wrote columns and did radio and TV stuff accordingly.
There is probably a lesson here – parties should listen to their own members rather than the media talking heads. It would be interesting to look back to 2003, and I think most of the talking heads thought Brash was too dangerous for National and supported the moderate Bill English. In that case, the party membership, especially in the North Island, demanded Brash and the caucus followed (just). And, for all Brash’s awkwardness and ultimate failure, he certainly turned the polls around more than English ever could have (until now it seems thanks to his economic management).
Compared with Brash, English was the moderate candidate in 2003.
It shows how far National has shifted left under Key that English is now seen as the bold reformer within the government.
Well, its a line made famous in the Hollow Men. There was a speech written for Brash to give to the caucus that referenced the line and much was made of that, but it was never given by Brash. “No Brash No Cash” was a theme but it was as much about ordinary party members deciding whether or not to go to $40 party fundraisers as the bigger donations.
It was all just a big coincidence and $40 donations that made National flush and caused ACT to have to go selling itself to climate denial loons and the SST mob.
Come on Hooton you were engaging in sabotage of Cunliffe well before election day. This was calculated on your part and on the part of Farrar et al. I bet you even had a media strategy behind it.
There is a lesson here. The left should never, ever follow your advice. In fact the left should most of the time do the exact opposite.
But don’t think that you have succeeded. This Government is that appalling that there is this grim determination on the part of the left to get rid of it. And this will happen whoever the leader of the Labour Party is, be it Shearer, Cunliffe, Robertson or anyone else.
“The left should never, ever follow your advice. In fact the left should most of the time do the exact opposite.”
No mickey. the left should take no regard. Frankly I wouldn’t even let him comment here. What good can it possibly serve to invite a vampire into your house?
I was talking about here Hooton, but in the nation in general.
And I’m not saying you should be silenced, I’m saying people would be wise to discount your views to zero. You add nothing of value to anyone’s understanding because you are a bullshit artist.
You are an unreliable narrator in the novel of life, as it were.
He may or may not agree that the discourse here would be improved without alternative views.
We (as in the site) like people who can express their own clear opinions with intelligence, articulation, and support when they rely on specific facts.
We tend to restrict the mindlessly repetitive, those who can’t express a clear opinion or assert facts without support, and those who are needlessly argumentative. That is because they tend to add nothing to the debate apart from boring the crap out of me us.
Both you and Pascal’s Bookie do it pretty well in all of the important criteria. Of course none of those things mean that we have to be particularly polite to each other. I never try for that lofty standard myself, I usually just go for the mutually exclusive (with politeness) objective of clarity.
“Frankly I wouldn’t even let him comment here. What good can it possibly serve to invite a vampire into your house?”
Got to disagree with you there Felix. I like to see him here, spouting his lying bullshit This way it can get dissected and revealed for what it is, and answered. Otherwise he will regurgitate (throw up, spew) his right wing crap on radio where he does his utmost to talk down any opposition, or write in the pathetic excuses we have as newspapers, We need good opposing arguments to his crap, otherwise he and his mates from the right will start to believe the crap he expounds that this is how the real world should work.
I laugh that you guys think Farrar, Slater, Hooten etc have such a huge impact on who ended up leader of labour – and your your own members cannot make the same impact.
Don’t understand what you are trying to say?? Are you really saying there was a right-wing conspiracy, led by or at least involving me and also people like Chris Trotter, to impose Shearer as Labour leader because he was known to be hopeless??? I wish the NZ right was that good!
No, I backed him (and many others did) because I thought he would make a great leader and prime minister. Now I have learned he is a lemon and I (and many others) were totally wrong. This is embarrassing and Mickey is right – don’t take my advice on Labour’s leader ever again! I am not close enough to the individuals to make a good assessment (although I did get to work with Cunliffe over the carpark tax issue and found he was much better to deal with and switched on than I had thought).
Amusing, and, at the same time, annoying, isn’t it? Watching Hooten’s lies spill out so easily is the fun part, but the Aaron Gilmore level of arrogance in thinking he will get away with is, oh, I dunno, just aggravating.
Ladies and germs, one of New Zealand’s elite rightwing spin geniuses political commentators, Matthew “No Spin Here” Hooten.
Why don’t you just accept that your credibility here is zero? No one swallowed your weak concern tr0ll shit before, why do you think we’ll suddenly give you the benefit of the doubt?
I recommend a story for you call ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’ it’s a good one. It’s about a boy who thinks it’s funny to fool people, until nobody believes anything he says. Usually it’s to help small children grasp this point, but you’re a big boy who can’t figure it out.
Maybe try logging in under a different name so you can commence bagging Shearer more freely? How about ‘Mud’?
Felix, I mentioned Cunliffe because those are the two Labour MPs Martyn invited to my party because they had appeared on the iPredict TV show in the week or so before the election. That’s why Tim Groser was invited too – I think he did the iPredict show the Friday before the election. This really was just a party, hosted by me and Busted Blonde, to drink the Veuve Clicquot she had won from the NBR (which reminds me, Ellen Read from the NBR, now Fairfax, was also there, which led to Shearer getting good coverage in the NBR over the following week or so – not that that would have mattered much. Also, while Farrar and Slater boycotted the party on political grounds, Cactus Kate showed up for reasons discussed in the previous sentence). You would do better understanding political developments if you look Freud’s advice – sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Nup. Blatant and deliberate racist hatemongering did that: aided, abetted, planned and delivered by the very same clique that delivered and now fetes this latest poll.
A poll of 863 by landline with an undisclosed several thousand who refused to participate.
Well if you are right Matthew, and the Labour leader was chosen mainly because he was endorsed by a number of commentators at a piss up, it pretty much explains why the decision has turned out to be a major fuck up for Labour.
If this is the way politics and by extension public policy gets done in this country, then I spit on the lot of you. Political operators are a pack of contemptible lizard brained psychopaths.
The interesting thing about psychopaths is that they have the ability to choose to believe their own lies. That’s what makes them such good liars. They also genuinely believe they are doing nothing wrong.
No mention of a margin of error, wow what a surprise.
No mention of the methods of polling, wow what a surprise.
And of course, no mention of the actual questions asked.
How can you defend the publication of fraudulent statistics?
Yes we know, it just makes us all want to not vote for Labour or the Green Party’s in 2014,
Snigger, the Slippery slope National are now on is known to the present Government best illustrated by the Slippery Prime Minister brushing crumbs off of the Tory table of over abundance in the direction of kiwi kids that do not have the income directed at them so as to guarantee their nutritional needs…
Rational??? who me ??? around these parts i am known as anything but rational, cult doesn’t quite ascribe a correct descriptive either,
But enough about ‘i’, the fact that you base your view of the electoral cycle on polling data that has continually in the face of reality loudly proclaimed to all and sundry that National have the numbers to ‘govern alone’ makes yours the voice of the rational does it ???,
Any Government that bounces up and down 4 whole % points between polls barely a month apart is in my opinion on the Slippery slope, Slippery the PM of course also knows this and He is operating with the added bonus of a damned sight better data source than little old ‘i’ can manage, (which of course is why the Shyster has managed to swallow such a large dead rat and pretend to unveil a comprehensive ‘food in schools program’,
i do of course except you critique of the one eyed nature of my political view which extends as far as holding a belief that the National Government’s suffered by this country are usually made up of well practiced liars and in some cases outright scum,
Perhaps you would care to post a comment, any comment, which would tend to offer a re-education to me changing my overall view of the present National Government, at the least you will be providing the readers with a much needed dose of mirth at the effort…
Polls have a margin of error, Y or N ?
Has this margin of error been reported, Y or N ?
Polls have a methodology of data collection Y or N ?
Has this methodology been reported Y or N ?
are you a pavlovian reactionary with the comprehension skills of an innebriated mollusc
Y or N ?
p.s. I made no such accusation of conspiracy against the polling companies as they are not the vehicle with which the information was made public. I merely stated that the basics of poll data reporting i.e: margin of error and method are no longer reported to the public. I am convinced both of those items would have been supplied to the publishers and it is the news services themselves that decided to publish the polls sans that particular information.
I also noticed that Mike Williams (on nine to noon on Monday) was rather negative on Shearer, up to now he has been one of his strong supporters. I expect to see more of Shearers supporters squirming away from him as his poll rating and performance continues to languish. The unfortunate thing is it is probably too late to change leaders now, whoever takes over will be accepting a hospital pass.
If Labour don’t win in 2014 there needs to be a serious cleanout of deadwood. And you don’t have to be a politics graduate to realise that Labour has a very low chance of winning with Shearer as Leader.
What a crappy but predictable situation Labour has found itself in!
It is not too late provided that a change of leader also means a genuine change of tactics, but it is far too late for another round of “let’s put in x and urge everyone to love x,” especially when the people doing the urging have diminished credibility. However, the longer they fail to rattle National from the opposition benches, the more confident National becomes and the more ground they lose.
I’ve had a quick look up the page, and I haven’t seen anyone else question this.
In the highly unlikely event of the leadership challenge against Shearer, does the membership get a vote?
I only ask because the Labour caucus does tend to feverishly enslave itself to the will of the MSM, and the MSM does seem to be actively on the hunt for a new scalp….. and Shearer does seem to be the one they ‘prepared earlier’, so to (cooking show) speak…..
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the only reason that the Labour Leadership would be willing to buck the msm was that doing so might allow the rest of the membership to participate democratically.
Well, if Tracey Watkins and Matthew Hooton are now questioning Shearer’s leadership, so much for pandering to the media. I am not sure about the rules of voting in the case of a leadership challenge. With the vote of confidence, Shearer needed at least 40% support and did manage to get it, arguably helped by Hipkins being included among the vote-counters. If he had not got that level of support the vote would have gone to the members. Given that, in the absence of a resignation, it would take over 50% against him to end his leadership, you would think that the members would get to vote, but I am not sure that is so.
[lprent: charts – still not happy with the GCR.
Amidst all of the random spiking and slumping, Labour has a slight trend upwards. National has a stronger long-term trend downwards. At present with the usual fortune shifts towards the election, I suspect that Winston would be the decider. I wonder how Key will like the replaying of those 2008 statements about Winston? Of course the National caucus could just dump Key and put in someone without that baggage…
BTW: National should sack Brownlee as I suspect that his mishandling of Christchurch is not helping them. Of course I personally hope that they do not. He is so useful at educating Christchurch residents on National party attitudes.. ]
* * * * Coming soon: Look for our Matthew Hooton feature! * * * *
See also….
No. 14: Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13: Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12: U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11: Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10: Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9: NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21052013/#comment-635850 No. 8: Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20052013/#comment-635343
No. 7: Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6: NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632598
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628803
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628703
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.” (TV3 News, 24 April 2013) http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25042013/#comment-624381
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19042013/#comment-621738
Yes please make your series more contemporary.
Focusing on Messrs Hooton, Farrar and Slater would be a more relevant area today.
Fair point, Paul. I was going to put up a choice lie from Hooton—there are so many to choose from—but I had to put in the Rumsfeld thing to reinforce yesterday’s Colin Powell obscenity. The Powell-Rumsfeld lies were always a twofer, and work most effectively when they are put together like that. They’re funnier (in a black kind of way) when they’re back to back.
Hooton will keep, as will Michelle Boag and Bill English….
Mana Party leader Hone Harawira, who came up with the original idea, has criticised the Government’s scheme because it involves the private sector. He claims that while corporates may be prepared to bankroll the programme now, they could walk away if times got tough.
First, big ups to Harawira for essentially railroading the Government into adopting his idea. It’s an unfortunate political reality that governments of all hues pinch the best ideas opposition parties come up with. It would have been a nice gesture if Key could have used Harawira in the programme in some way (and who knows, the pair may yet need each other).
But Harawira can rest assured that Fonterra and Sanitarium are not going to walk away from this scheme for all the milk powder in China. You can’t buy better publicity for your brand than umpteen thousand grateful children chowing down on the sponsor’s product each morning.
And even if they did pull the pin, the Government would simply cast around for a new sponsor, which isn’t going to be hard to find given the nature of the cause.
In my opinion Espiner is wrong in thinking;“It’s an unfortunate political reality that governments of all hues pinch the best ideas opposition parties come up with.”
Harawira actively lobbied all parties to take up his idea.
(Though not as comprehensive as what he sought he has achieved a hell of a lot for a party pretty much isolated with only one MP. And he can count this as a success, and hungry children who would not be fed will now will be.)
When political parties refuse to forward good solutions to pressing problems facing their constituents and the country, because they fear their opponents will take them, then you know that they are being run by sectarian careerists who put their narrow sectarian interests before helping solve society’s most pressing problems.
I hope I never again hear such an argument put forward for keeping a political party’s policies under wraps.
You may say that there are other reasons why politicians, oft time argue not announce their party’s policies to the last minute. But what are they? Is it because they have none? Is it because they have none that are different to their erstwhile opponents? Is it because they have policies that are so close to their opponent’s policies, that they need to ambush their members and supporters at the last minute?
The other reason of course is to limit democratic discussion within a political party to just a few at the top, asking their membership to take them on trust.
When a political party says that they are holding off their policy announcements until closer to the election then you know that they have seriously lost their way.
Hone Harawira just on RNZ actually sounding like a real opposition when talking about this governments priorities on spending. Maybe Shearer and the Labour Party could listen to that interview.
It’s called standing up for the people.
Olwyn+1 and his swearing was appropriate if there was any. Certainly the message was most memorable and had the punch of an unwavering and sincere politician committed to NZ people, and particularly Maori and the low-income.
Must suck to be a Labour supporter right now (not as bad for the Greens) but don’t worry about the polls I’m sure they’re not indicitive of the massive groundswell of support building for Labour under the astute stewardship of David Shearer…at this rate Labour will be back in power by 2020 🙂
Interesting poll, that Reid one. Of course, the sample is too small to justify your confidence but did you see that most National Ltd™ voters were in favour of the NZ Power solution to being rorted by the corporates? There’s a skerrick of hope for youse yet. Psychologically, I mean.
You actually put your reasoning on one poll a year out from election day? National doesn’t have that great a lead, and all these polls always write off NZ First and Mana, even though they have a strong following in their own way. I doubt even National’s inner circle believe you can know who will most likely win, till the months or weeks before election day.
Snigger, we really really believe it when we are told constantly by the polls that National have enough support to govern alone,
We all know this has to be true because for the past two election cycles the polls have been telling us this,
There is of course only one small problem with that which in abbreviated terminology says, ”they didn’t and they still haven’t”
Minus 1 or 2% in November 2014 and it’s haere ra National and who cares who the leader of the Labour Party is if He or She supports the stopping of the electricity rort with things like NZPower and intends to support a guaranteed living wage for ALL workers…
Minus 1 or 2% in November 2014 and it’s haere ra National and who cares who the leader of the Labour Party is if He or She supports the stopping of the electricity rort with things like NZPower and intends to support a guaranteed living wage for ALL workers…
Well most of Europe right now has weak coalition governments (especially Germany – where NZ took it’s MMP system from), Australia really is no different, and the US is very much divided. It is doubtful that even if National wins again, it would have anything but a weak coalition, it can’t break international trends. 😉
So good to know that NZ tax payers money went to a good cause. Also, how about sparing an extra pittance or three so that NZ workers can have union protection just like the actors you hire from Australia and USA? Or in fact, just like you have yourself?
Because he is a manipulative arsehole. What was your point?
We aren’t politicians. We have sufficient rejects from real life for that task (you look quite good as a potential National candidate BTW). What happens here is that we express our opinions. And occasionally in my moderator role I’ll squash some cretinous fuckwit like yourself (see that is an opinion) who wants to insinuate that the site or the commentators are a political organisation.
I insinuated nothing, I said “keep attacking Sir Peter Jackson because its worked so well in the past” because this blog has had numerous attempts at smearing Sir Peter Jackson…as a rich prick, anti-union, lackey of Warner Bros etc etc
Nothing to do with this site or the commentators being a political organisation or otherwise
Yeah, this winston has a problem with individualism. Seems like one of those conformist totalitarian dickheads to me… Obviously every author and commentator is “The Standard” – including himself.
After all he reads like just about every other right wing troll to me. Dispose of one and another duplicate pops up like a head at a fair’s shooting gallery with the same lame assertions about computer programs having opinions.
At least this one tries to reply and even attempts the difficult art of arguing rather than doing crapping an assertion and then immediately leave (like an incontinent poodle moving down a street).
So, basically, he read the book and thought it was all about communism, so figured he would use the name as a pseudonym in his valiant, solitary struggle against the left.
Yeah. Of course as with many of the Orwellian novels it is often hard to figure out which brand of totalitarian conformist nutters he was parodying. He was after all a democratic socialist* with a distinct dislike of all brands of conformist totalitarianism.
But it is clear that if that was where he got his name from and why he took it, then he clearly hasn’t read to the end of the book. After the rat room the fictional Winston Smith become just another blob staring adoringly at the image of his leader with an inability to think. Just like this one I suspect…..
* A stream of political thought that encourages individualism – far more so than the daft conformity of the libertarians with their obsessive theology of toy collection. Or for that matter or almost any other political philosophy I have seen. Even the anarchists have this strange obsession at having to all agree (conformity) or they’ll dissolve into complete societies of one. The democratic socialist acceptance and even promotion of eccentricity amongst groups has always been a wonder to behold. And most importantly it fosters agreeing to disagree….
Indeed he did. But you know what’s more depressing? !!!!
It’s when someone (with a history of someone struggling in the industry, and having sampled the lowliest of the low – including serious jailtime as a result of Sth American totalitarian juntas) becomes so SO immune to the plight of ‘the film-maker’s community’ (i.e. his peers). That Petey isn’t such a bad bloke after all – AYE?.
I’m not exactly sure what the Paekak dak delivers – but it’s obviously pretty potent.
Nope. If I was to even use the title “sir” (not going to happen because I’m not a brown noser like yourself) to someone it would be to someone I respect. I don’t respect liars.
Peters asks Dunne (during an unrelated committee meeting) if it was him what leaked the Kitteridge report. Cue arguments about whether the question is in order or whatever nevermind Dunne ends up confirming that he’s been spoken to as part of the investigation into who leaked ouch. *laughs*
With a few exceptions most forget ( or don’t want to acknowledge ) that poll proportions are a % of those who didn’t say fuck off( not of the general population. Therefore 45% may well be only 45% of 18-20% of those with a landline. That should leave at least 70% to be influenced by good policy and if that policy is telegraphed too early pale imitations or window-dressed versions of it will be stolen, and thats why we have a ( albeit better than nothing ) half-arsed ” Breakfast in Schools” programme.
On Shearer/ Cuniliffe, be careful not to buy in and feed the MSM’s castigation of DS, if DC was leader the arseholes would be in paroxysms of red-baiting and thunderous editorials of communist takeovers and I’m sure that that buck-toothed idiot Gower would even come in his pants on a live cross to the Beehive over some concocted Stalinist bullshit.
Remember Hooten et al are just doing what they are paid for.
Level the playing field for solar power in New Zealand!
As an investor in a NZ solar company, I was shocked to discover that a careless change in the rules – requiring solar companies to use a particular inverter technology that hasn’t even been invented yet – could come into force any day now and stop our solar industry dead in its tracks. If this were the fossil fuel lobby, would we ever have to worry about something like this?
Solar panels are not just a green technology, they’re also a great financial investment for New Zealand homes and businesses and a potentially huge source of economic growth. We should be pulling out all the stops to help the solar industry develop, not putting one obstacle after another in its path. Even John Key called for reducing “the Pacific region’s reliance on expensive fossil fuels for electricity” a few weeks ago.
New Zealand has almost unlimited potential to generate clean energy from the sun. That’s why I’m calling on regulators — who have been asleep at the wheel — to roll up their sleeves and level the playing field for solar energy by creating a clear, nationally-enforced standard; reducing the soft costs for installing solar; and creating a nationwide financing scheme and easy way for people to sell back their extra solar power production with a net-metering law. These measures would give so many more people access to this smart, environmentally beneficial investment! Please add your name and tell all your friends, and I’ll make sure the law-drafters get our message loud and clear.
Join us! Click below to sign the petition and forward to everyone:
If people think that the (from the earth) fuel companies, will take solar heating lying down, I would be very surprised.
The oil/banking cartel own the politicians, and are not going anywhere, as long as they can drill it from the earth!
The other problem to deal with for the solar energy proponents, is that of global dimming, and the impact of geo-engineering on the amount of suns rays reaching the planets surface!
Former National MP Jackie Blue formally submitted her interest in a top government job more than a month after the closing date, documents show.
The documents also show that in a briefing dated November 1, the Justice Ministry identified eight candidates. The paper recommended Collins indicate which candidates she wanted to have interviewed. Collins did not sign the paper.
So, firstly the applicant didn’t apply in time and then the minister didn’t accept the candidates until she had the one she wanted in the list.
GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister of Justice: How many expressions of interest or nominations for the position of Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner were received by the Ministry of Justice after the advertised deadline of 13 October 2012?
S.S. thugs still getting free air time on public radio
Will Kyle Chapman be next?
Nine to Noon, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 29 May 2013
Host: Lynn Freeman
First item up on Nine to Noon this morning was an interesting and learned discussion about the insane “Three Strikes” legislation. The guests were Hastings barrister Eric Forster and Victoria University criminology professor John Pratt. In contrast to many of the blowhards, maniacs and hypocrites who usually get air time on this issue, both of these men are learned and serious scholars of the law; both of them condemned the Three Strikes legislation as “insane”, and the consequence of a small number of ignorant politicians who believed in “magical thinking” being given a totally disproportionate amount of power. This discussion ended about 9:40 a.m.
Just over two hours later, host Lynn Freeman felt compelled to read out a long and belligerent email in favour of Three Strikes. This email was written by the disgraced, discredited convicted grave-robber, doctor-assaulter, serial sexual harasser, former ACT MP, and S.S. man David Garrett. Poor old Lynn Freeman, who I know detests and despises David Garrett and his evil organization, read the email in a tone of obvious distress, as well as distaste.
Then, incredibly, a few minutes later, just before the end of the programme, she read ANOTHER urgent email from the bowels of Hell. This time it was from the Grand Wizard of the S.S. himself, Garth “The Knife” McVicar. In contrast to the rabid David Garrett, the Grand Wizard’s email was written in a tone of wounded disappointment; the two experts, he whined, were “well known opponents of the legislation”. The entirely false display of emotion by this creep rendered that email even more offensive and insulting than Garrett’s.
Surely, if any organization has thoroughly discredited itself and should not be indulged in any way, it is this vicious and hypocritical bunch of gangsters. I know that there is not one person at Radio New Zealand who feels anything other than loathing for the S.S. Trust and for David Garrett and Garth “The Knife” McVicar. Yet here we were, this morning, forced to listen to the thoroughly unedifying phenomenon of a fine broadcaster being forced to read out crass emails from not just one, but TWO personae non grata.
I have no doubt that the receptionsists at Radio NZ National suffered a deluge of coordinated abuse, through telephone calls and emails, for the two hours before those two emails were read out.
I wonder who made the decision to cave in to their hectoring; I know that it was not the journalists.
Everytime I think of the SS Trust, I think of a bunch of hooded people standing round a lynched brown person.
Entirely understandable, millsy, but in reality it’s a bunch of intolerant people sitting in a radio studio (NewstalkZB) pouring scorn and abuse on a lynched brown person in South Auckland, and ridiculing his family. That’s what they did, day in, day out, session after session, hour after hour in 2008 and 2009, and still occasionally do whenever somebody mentions the word “tagger”.
Something called “Dv” tried, unwisely, to be clever….
Wait until a two strikes offender kills a victum because he cant [sic] get his skateboard.
What possible precedent do you have to suggest such a scenario?
What a fuss that will cause.
Nonsense. Your dull fantasy lacks even the slightest plausibility.
I thought the most compelling argument was that those on 2 strikes dont really have the moral judgemnt needed to ‘obey’ the law.
Nor, as recent events have reinforced, do the people in the top echelons of the New Zealand police. And, as shown by their failures in Afghanistan, neither do the top brass in the New Zealand Defence Force.
No doubt you will be calling for these people to be sent to jail for fifteen to twenty years. Or do you get ALL your opinions directly from talk radio?
Am I correct in believing that a third guest (aside from Eric Forster and John Pratt) was invited to participate, but declined?
The ‘trickle down’ effect does work! – at least at RNZ.
The DEFENDANT – ‘dodgy’ John Banks is back in the Auckland District Court, (Albert St) Thursday 30 May 2013.
As I understand it – this case will be stood down until 11.45am, because Private Prosecutor Graham McCready will not be able to attend before that time.
It is my intention to have banners up outside the Court from 11am.
Do come along if you are able! 🙂
Being FINALLY held accountable in a Court of Law – has been a VERY long time coming for the DEFENDANT John Banks.
The BIG question is – how come Prime Minister John Key has not yet stood down as Minister, the DEFENDANT, Minister of Regulatory Reform, Minister of Small Business, Associate Minister of Education and Associate Minister of Commerce – ACT MP for Epsom – the arguably ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks?
Former National MP Aaron Gilmore, was effectively forced to leave Parliament, yet he never faced charges in Court, unlike the DEFENDANT John Banks!
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
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US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology “The lie outlasts the liar,” writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the “post-truth” era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, UNSW The views of women and men can differ on important gendered issues such as abortion, gender equity and government spending priorities. Surprisingly, however, average differences in sex ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer S. Hunt, Lecturer in National Security, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle In Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with COVID lockdowns. Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australia’s export ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asha Bowen, Head, Skin Health, Telethon Kids Institute A year ago, in late January 2020, Australia reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, we have seen almost 29,000 confirmed cases and 909 deaths. As cases climbed in Australian cities in 2020, ...
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Tracy Watkins asks……How long before Labour asks whether David Shearer is the solution or the problem?http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8728086/Shearers-invisible-cloak-thinning
Some on the site have been asking this for a while.
Yes, surely he must go now. The detailed poll results are at http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/8728030/National-leaving-Labour-in-its-wake
Right wingers bash left wing leader. Should I be surprised?
Hooton on Shearer:
Yep, I was wrong. But how was anyone to know he would be this hopeless?
No, you were lying. Just like we all said you were.
No. No-one lies all the time. Shearer is hopeless.
But by dumping him now the Labour caucus would be hopelessly divided and broken. Just in time for the next election.
I’m resigned to Key being Prime Minister for two or three more elections.
Maybe one more, but I doubt two.
There is a reasonable chance on one more term for Slippery (I say this mainly because of the TV debates), but I suspect that Key will want to slit his own wrists before putting up with the pain of a 4th lame duck term in office.
However the polls are right – Labour are in with a chance but I believe that chance relies entirely on either Winston, or on the Greens hitting no less than 14% to 15%. One question which no done has answered for me: will Labour be brave enough to include Hone in the next coalition, in Cabinet. Or will they try and hold the radical extreme left maori guy that the middle class thinks is fringe and dangerous, out at arms length.
Shearer is going to need a lot of training if he is to succeed in the debates.
Also if the economy doesn’t tank or if power prices remain static then Key will have a ‘told you so’ angle so yeah, a third term is highly possible.
My general feeling is the public generally want to change after 9 years, no matter who is in charge which is why I couldn’t see a 4th term IMO.
Sometimes, no amount of training can make up for an innate skill deficit.
CV
Surely the only answer in a democracy is. “We must and will, work with whoever the people vote for..Hone, Winston,……… (gulp).. Banks.
Actually, in a democracy, the answer is to let the people decide and not dictate from on high. What we have in our parliamentary system is the latter.
Dumping Shearer now is the only sane course of action. The Labour caucus is divided and broken. The sooner the broken parts are swept aside, the better. One of the worst things that I can see happening would be for the present front bench to run the country, which they’d do in much the same way Key is. That would be the death knell of the parliamentary left for a generation. Mana and the Greens are not yet in a position to fully take over and, even though parliament is largely a sideshow, it is a highly visible one.
They have some inspiring people. Give them a chance. If Cunliffe is on top of a bus talking, at least workers are in the street listening. When Shearer mumbles and makes excuses, who can be bothered listening? What do Mallard and Hipkins stand for except themselves? What do they have to say about the invasion of the Urewera that happened on their watch? Pffft. Let them go. Make them go.
I disagree with pretty much every assessment, comparison and solution you offered in that comment.
As I would have expected.
A Fairfax poll? Would that be the same Fairfax that in September 2011 gave the National Party 54%?
He should rename that trash he calls an article in the NBR to Hootens Horseshit, All the lies that are current!!
You and all the other righties backed Shearer over Cunliffe from the start of Labour’s leadership campaign. You did this because you were afraid of Cunliffe and you knew the right’s best chance of success was to have Shearer in charge.
Now when you think it is too late to change you are dumping on Shearer.
You are so predictable Hooton.
Little bit skeptical Mr Hooton.
I think you always knew he’d be:
a) hopeless
b) in favour of the neo-liberal project your puppet masters benefit from.
Isn’t that why you encouraged him to go for the job at that bbq?
Labour are in a mess because they have a poor leader.
Isn’t this what you always wanted?
Yep, I was wrong. But how was anyone to know he would be this hopeless?
You were lying, and everyone knows it.
Not at all – it’s amazing how the situation has completely turned on its head in only three months.
“Its amazing”
You mean “I’m amazed” right McFlock?
Everyone is amazed – I’m sure even hoots is amazed how the circumstances have changed so much that he had to completely reverse a weeks-old assessment.
Or maybe things have merely altered in their own, gradual way, passing no major threshold or “tipping point” one way or the other, and hoot’s reversal is simply the result of his natural spin cycle. In which case I reckon it does not cause amazement for anyone 🙂
Ah so you were being sarcastic about Hooten’s sudden ‘abandon the Shearer ship’ call after months of talking him up on this blog. Fair enough.
A contemptibly cynical stirrer writes….
Yes, surely he must go now.
It’s not so long ago you and every other National Party operative in the country was praising Shearer, and lobbying for his appointment as Labour leader as enthusiastically as anybody in his official team.
There’s a football analogy for this nasty manipulation of the unwitting. Back in 1966 the All Blacks pulled off a similar coup over the management of the touring British Lions. Whenever journalists asked anyone in the All Blacks who impressed them the most in the tourists, they always said “the captain, Campbell-Lamerton”. They made sure to praise Campbell-Lamerton with special fervour and generosity after every test, when the Lions were disconsolately licking their wounds. Of course, anyone with any nous knew that Campbell-Lamerton was not up to the task of playing test football. The All Blacks wanted the Lions to keep selecting him in the test team, where he was repeatedly outclassed, indeed destroyed, by the Meads brothers, Waka Nathan, Kel Tremain and the rest of the formidable NZ pack, as the Lions lost all four tests.
Maybe someone should appoint you to a football team somewhere, Mr Hooton. After all, you couldn’t possibly be as controversial a choice as the war criminal that came down here in 2005 as the “manager” of the British & Irish Lions.
Interesting. Its a very simple strategy and worked well then, has worked well again for National and the right.
Rob/Felix/SP/Paul/Morrissey/Saarbo: It wasn’t like that at all. I had no preference of Shearer over Cunliffe until, yes, Shearer turned up to my post-election party and Cunliffe didn’t, after both were invited by – small country we live in – Martyn Bradbury. And Shearer impressed all the politicos there that day – from memory, as well as Martyn and some of his crowd like Phoebe Fletcher, there was Willie & JT, Matt McCarten, Sean Plunket, Fran O’Sullivan, John Pagani, Andrew Campbell from the Greens, Chris Trotter …. So it really wasn’t a right-wing conspiracy (in fact, Slater and Farrar refused to show up in protest that Martyn was invited) . What happened is that we all just thought Shearer would do a good job – “50 million lives vs 50 million dollars” etc – and wrote columns and did radio and TV stuff accordingly.
There is probably a lesson here – parties should listen to their own members rather than the media talking heads. It would be interesting to look back to 2003, and I think most of the talking heads thought Brash was too dangerous for National and supported the moderate Bill English. In that case, the party membership, especially in the North Island, demanded Brash and the caucus followed (just). And, for all Brash’s awkwardness and ultimate failure, he certainly turned the polls around more than English ever could have (until now it seems thanks to his economic management).
“the moderate Bill English”
?!!!?????!!???
Compared with Brash, English was the moderate candidate in 2003.
It shows how far National has shifted left under Key that English is now seen as the bold reformer within the government.
Four words missing from your memory there :
no no brash cash
It’s no secret why Brash got the nod from caucus.
The “no brash no cash” speech was never given.
Who said anything about a speech? oops.
Well, its a line made famous in the Hollow Men. There was a speech written for Brash to give to the caucus that referenced the line and much was made of that, but it was never given by Brash. “No Brash No Cash” was a theme but it was as much about ordinary party members deciding whether or not to go to $40 party fundraisers as the bigger donations.
Again, who said it was a speech?
Laugh.
It was all just a big coincidence and $40 donations that made National flush and caused ACT to have to go selling itself to climate denial loons and the SST mob.
Key ….left wing ….you must try to stop those porkies Mr Hooton.
“Compared with Brash, English was the moderate candidate”
Compared with nuclear weapons, cluster bombs aren’t so terrible.
Come on Hooton you were engaging in sabotage of Cunliffe well before election day. This was calculated on your part and on the part of Farrar et al. I bet you even had a media strategy behind it.
There is a lesson here. The left should never, ever follow your advice. In fact the left should most of the time do the exact opposite.
But don’t think that you have succeeded. This Government is that appalling that there is this grim determination on the part of the left to get rid of it. And this will happen whoever the leader of the Labour Party is, be it Shearer, Cunliffe, Robertson or anyone else.
+1
“The left should never, ever follow your advice. In fact the left should most of the time do the exact opposite.”
No mickey. the left should take no regard. Frankly I wouldn’t even let him comment here. What good can it possibly serve to invite a vampire into your house?
+1. The man is a worthless blight on the discourse. Active poison to the demos, etc.
You should raise this matter with lprent. He may or may not agree that the discourse here would be improved without alternative views.
I was talking about here Hooton, but in the nation in general.
And I’m not saying you should be silenced, I’m saying people would be wise to discount your views to zero. You add nothing of value to anyone’s understanding because you are a bullshit artist.
You are an unreliable narrator in the novel of life, as it were.
The way I understand it alternative views are welcome here, but tr0lls get banned.
We (as in the site) like people who can express their own clear opinions with intelligence, articulation, and support when they rely on specific facts.
We tend to restrict the mindlessly repetitive, those who can’t express a clear opinion or assert facts without support, and those who are needlessly argumentative. That is because they tend to add nothing to the debate apart from boring the crap out of
meus.Both you and Pascal’s Bookie do it pretty well in all of the important criteria. Of course none of those things mean that we have to be particularly polite to each other. I never try for that lofty standard myself, I usually just go for the mutually exclusive (with politeness) objective of clarity.
“Frankly I wouldn’t even let him comment here. What good can it possibly serve to invite a vampire into your house?”
Got to disagree with you there Felix. I like to see him here, spouting his lying bullshit This way it can get dissected and revealed for what it is, and answered. Otherwise he will regurgitate (throw up, spew) his right wing crap on radio where he does his utmost to talk down any opposition, or write in the pathetic excuses we have as newspapers, We need good opposing arguments to his crap, otherwise he and his mates from the right will start to believe the crap he expounds that this is how the real world should work.
I laugh that you guys think Farrar, Slater, Hooten etc have such a huge impact on who ended up leader of labour – and your your own members cannot make the same impact.
cracks me up.
Who said anything about Cunliffe, Matthew? Gave the game away with that comment mate.
No, the truth is you backed Shearer because he was a mug, knowing that later you could attack him for being a mug.
It was obvious then, it’s obvious now, we all said all along that this is exactly what you would do, and you fooled no-one.
(Except the Labour hierarchy and front bench of course, but hey…)
Mickey/Felix/One Anon: No, that’s not the truth. That is your constructed view of reality.
And now you are taking the piss Matthew.
Can I urge everyone to take steps to prevent Hooton’s lot from remaining in power because the future of your country depends on it.
If you want to join the Labour Party go to http://www.labour.org.nz/join
If you want to donate go to http://www.labour.org.nz/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=8
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And if you want to donate go to https://my.greens.org.nz/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=19
Don’t understand what you are trying to say?? Are you really saying there was a right-wing conspiracy, led by or at least involving me and also people like Chris Trotter, to impose Shearer as Labour leader because he was known to be hopeless??? I wish the NZ right was that good!
Why are you trying to make out that conspiracies are required?
You backed Shearer because he’s a lemon. And now you’re attacking him because he’s a lemon.
Where’s the conspiracy?
No, I backed him (and many others did) because I thought he would make a great leader and prime minister. Now I have learned he is a lemon and I (and many others) were totally wrong. This is embarrassing and Mickey is right – don’t take my advice on Labour’s leader ever again! I am not close enough to the individuals to make a good assessment (although I did get to work with Cunliffe over the carpark tax issue and found he was much better to deal with and switched on than I had thought).
The more you say it the more ridiculous it sounds.
Keep talking.
‘
Amusing, and, at the same time, annoying, isn’t it? Watching Hooten’s lies spill out so easily is the fun part, but the Aaron Gilmore level of arrogance in thinking he will get away with is, oh, I dunno, just aggravating.
Yeah, he’s just smart enough to be devious but still dumb enough to let his ego get the better of him and tell everyone what he’s up to.
Ladies and germs, one of New Zealand’s elite
rightwing spin geniusespolitical commentators, Matthew “No Spin Here” Hooten.Why don’t you just accept that your credibility here is zero? No one swallowed your weak concern tr0ll shit before, why do you think we’ll suddenly give you the benefit of the doubt?
I recommend a story for you call ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’ it’s a good one. It’s about a boy who thinks it’s funny to fool people, until nobody believes anything he says. Usually it’s to help small children grasp this point, but you’re a big boy who can’t figure it out.
Maybe try logging in under a different name so you can commence bagging Shearer more freely? How about ‘Mud’?
Whatever Matthew. Our amateur view of reality is nothing compared to the one you’ve been paid to construct.
That’s the point. Hooton is a paid puppet.
Like you give a flying fuck about the truth Hoots.
Felix, I mentioned Cunliffe because those are the two Labour MPs Martyn invited to my party because they had appeared on the iPredict TV show in the week or so before the election. That’s why Tim Groser was invited too – I think he did the iPredict show the Friday before the election. This really was just a party, hosted by me and Busted Blonde, to drink the Veuve Clicquot she had won from the NBR (which reminds me, Ellen Read from the NBR, now Fairfax, was also there, which led to Shearer getting good coverage in the NBR over the following week or so – not that that would have mattered much. Also, while Farrar and Slater boycotted the party on political grounds, Cactus Kate showed up for reasons discussed in the previous sentence). You would do better understanding political developments if you look Freud’s advice – sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
don’t you righties know as/call shearer ‘the insurance-policy’..?
phillip ure..
Matthew you protest too much.
No-one cares about your party or your mates. You’ve done exactly what everyone said you would do, more or less to the day.
A cigar is just a cigar indeed.
Whereas Hoots proves that a dick is indeed a dick.
Brash…. he certainly turned the polls around
Nup. Blatant and deliberate racist hatemongering did that: aided, abetted, planned and delivered by the very same clique that delivered and now fetes this latest poll.
A poll of 863 by landline with an undisclosed several thousand who refused to participate.
Lets panic. Until the next Roy Morgan. Yawn.
Next Roy Morgan will be released in 24 hours or so. You won’t have long to wait. Big bounce back up for Labour to 35% or 36% you reckon?
Well if you are right Matthew, and the Labour leader was chosen mainly because he was endorsed by a number of commentators at a piss up, it pretty much explains why the decision has turned out to be a major fuck up for Labour.
😀
yes, that is my theory
If this is the way politics and by extension public policy gets done in this country, then I spit on the lot of you. Political operators are a pack of contemptible lizard brained psychopaths.
The interesting thing about psychopaths is that they have the ability to choose to believe their own lies. That’s what makes them such good liars. They also genuinely believe they are doing nothing wrong.
just like Shonkey ??
we call him donkey jonkey at our place.
I’ve started referring to him as ol’ brain fade.
Hmmmm at the rate we are going you might have to specify which political leader you are referring to
No mention of a margin of error, wow what a surprise.
No mention of the methods of polling, wow what a surprise.
And of course, no mention of the actual questions asked.
How can you defend the publication of fraudulent statistics?
oh that’s right, you are paid to.
and the other two polls this week that also showed labour looking poorly ????
rouges as well?
Yes we know, it just makes us all want to not vote for Labour or the Green Party’s in 2014,
Snigger, the Slippery slope National are now on is known to the present Government best illustrated by the Slippery Prime Minister brushing crumbs off of the Tory table of over abundance in the direction of kiwi kids that do not have the income directed at them so as to guarantee their nutritional needs…
Shows just how one-eyed and blind you are. The poll results hardly point to a slipery slope for national and to think it does just beggars belief.
Makes you sound more like a cult than a rational person.
Rational??? who me ??? around these parts i am known as anything but rational, cult doesn’t quite ascribe a correct descriptive either,
But enough about ‘i’, the fact that you base your view of the electoral cycle on polling data that has continually in the face of reality loudly proclaimed to all and sundry that National have the numbers to ‘govern alone’ makes yours the voice of the rational does it ???,
Any Government that bounces up and down 4 whole % points between polls barely a month apart is in my opinion on the Slippery slope, Slippery the PM of course also knows this and He is operating with the added bonus of a damned sight better data source than little old ‘i’ can manage, (which of course is why the Shyster has managed to swallow such a large dead rat and pretend to unveil a comprehensive ‘food in schools program’,
i do of course except you critique of the one eyed nature of my political view which extends as far as holding a belief that the National Government’s suffered by this country are usually made up of well practiced liars and in some cases outright scum,
Perhaps you would care to post a comment, any comment, which would tend to offer a re-education to me changing my overall view of the present National Government, at the least you will be providing the readers with a much needed dose of mirth at the effort…
James, who mentioned rogues?
All I stated are simple facts. The polls are fraudulently represented statistics and have repeatedly been published as such for about two years now.
Not including the statement of methodology and the margin of error are deliberate exclusions that skew any data they purport to represent.
“All I stated are simple facts. The polls are fraudulently represented statistics and have repeatedly been published as such for about two years now.”
says it all really. Everyone is against us. Its a conspiracy of all the polling companies.
Not simply facts – more the rantings of somebody who has lost the plot.
Polls have a margin of error, Y or N ?
Has this margin of error been reported, Y or N ?
Polls have a methodology of data collection Y or N ?
Has this methodology been reported Y or N ?
are you a pavlovian reactionary with the comprehension skills of an innebriated mollusc
Y or N ?
p.s. I made no such accusation of conspiracy against the polling companies as they are not the vehicle with which the information was made public. I merely stated that the basics of poll data reporting i.e: margin of error and method are no longer reported to the public. I am convinced both of those items would have been supplied to the publishers and it is the news services themselves that decided to publish the polls sans that particular information.
jeez, james – even hoots thinks the polls are biased…
Is Hooten not yanking on the collective Open Mike chain today?
Gee i thought you meant the other anking word beginning with the letter W…
I also noticed that Mike Williams (on nine to noon on Monday) was rather negative on Shearer, up to now he has been one of his strong supporters. I expect to see more of Shearers supporters squirming away from him as his poll rating and performance continues to languish. The unfortunate thing is it is probably too late to change leaders now, whoever takes over will be accepting a hospital pass.
If Labour don’t win in 2014 there needs to be a serious cleanout of deadwood. And you don’t have to be a politics graduate to realise that Labour has a very low chance of winning with Shearer as Leader.
What a crappy but predictable situation Labour has found itself in!
It is not too late provided that a change of leader also means a genuine change of tactics, but it is far too late for another round of “let’s put in x and urge everyone to love x,” especially when the people doing the urging have diminished credibility. However, the longer they fail to rattle National from the opposition benches, the more confident National becomes and the more ground they lose.
I’ve had a quick look up the page, and I haven’t seen anyone else question this.
In the highly unlikely event of the leadership challenge against Shearer, does the membership get a vote?
I only ask because the Labour caucus does tend to feverishly enslave itself to the will of the MSM, and the MSM does seem to be actively on the hunt for a new scalp….. and Shearer does seem to be the one they ‘prepared earlier’, so to (cooking show) speak…..
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the only reason that the Labour Leadership would be willing to buck the msm was that doing so might allow the rest of the membership to participate democratically.
Well, if Tracey Watkins and Matthew Hooton are now questioning Shearer’s leadership, so much for pandering to the media. I am not sure about the rules of voting in the case of a leadership challenge. With the vote of confidence, Shearer needed at least 40% support and did manage to get it, arguably helped by Hipkins being included among the vote-counters. If he had not got that level of support the vote would have gone to the members. Given that, in the absence of a resignation, it would take over 50% against him to end his leadership, you would think that the members would get to vote, but I am not sure that is so.
+1
Shearer will be breathing a big sigh of relief at the latest Roy Morgan. National down to 41%, Labour up to 35% and the Greens on 12% …
Of course what the reality is is something that we can only speculate on.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/new-zealand-voting-intention-may29-201305290604
[lprent: charts – still not happy with the GCR.
Amidst all of the random spiking and slumping, Labour has a slight trend upwards. National has a stronger long-term trend downwards. At present with the usual fortune shifts towards the election, I suspect that Winston would be the decider. I wonder how Key will like the replaying of those 2008 statements about Winston? Of course the National caucus could just dump Key and put in someone without that baggage…
BTW: National should sack Brownlee as I suspect that his mishandling of Christchurch is not helping them. Of course I personally hope that they do not. He is so useful at educating Christchurch residents on National party attitudes.. ]
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 15: Donald Rumsfeld
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, speaking in Atlanta, Friday May 5, 2006.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1FTmuhynaw
* * * * Coming soon: Look for our Matthew Hooton feature! * * * *
See also….
No. 14: Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13: Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12: U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11: Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10: Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9: NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21052013/#comment-635850 No. 8: Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20052013/#comment-635343
No. 7: Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6: NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632598
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628803
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628703
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.” (TV3 News, 24 April 2013) http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25042013/#comment-624381
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19042013/#comment-621738
Yes please make your series more contemporary.
Focusing on Messrs Hooton, Farrar and Slater would be a more relevant area today.
Yes please make your series more contemporary.
Focusing on Messrs Hooton, Farrar and Slater would be a more relevant area today.
Fair point, Paul. I was going to put up a choice lie from Hooton—there are so many to choose from—but I had to put in the Rumsfeld thing to reinforce yesterday’s Colin Powell obscenity. The Powell-Rumsfeld lies were always a twofer, and work most effectively when they are put together like that. They’re funnier (in a black kind of way) when they’re back to back.
Hooton will keep, as will Michelle Boag and Bill English….
Fair call Morrissey
Colin Espiner on ‘Feed The Kids’
In my opinion Espiner is wrong in thinking;“It’s an unfortunate political reality that governments of all hues pinch the best ideas opposition parties come up with.”
Harawira actively lobbied all parties to take up his idea.
(Though not as comprehensive as what he sought he has achieved a hell of a lot for a party pretty much isolated with only one MP. And he can count this as a success, and hungry children who would not be fed will now will be.)
When political parties refuse to forward good solutions to pressing problems facing their constituents and the country, because they fear their opponents will take them, then you know that they are being run by sectarian careerists who put their narrow sectarian interests before helping solve society’s most pressing problems.
I hope I never again hear such an argument put forward for keeping a political party’s policies under wraps.
You may say that there are other reasons why politicians, oft time argue not announce their party’s policies to the last minute. But what are they? Is it because they have none? Is it because they have none that are different to their erstwhile opponents? Is it because they have policies that are so close to their opponent’s policies, that they need to ambush their members and supporters at the last minute?
The other reason of course is to limit democratic discussion within a political party to just a few at the top, asking their membership to take them on trust.
When a political party says that they are holding off their policy announcements until closer to the election then you know that they have seriously lost their way.
Exactly. Parties are policy delivery devices, no more.
When a party that is normally useless to you, is ‘stealing’ policies from a party that usually delivers what you want, it’s a win.
Hone Harawira just on RNZ actually sounding like a real opposition when talking about this governments priorities on spending. Maybe Shearer and the Labour Party could listen to that interview.
It’s called standing up for the people.
harawira was also good on tv3 this morn..
..well worth the watch..
..phillip ure..
I agree, he was clear, forthright and did not pull his punches.
Olwyn+1 and his swearing was appropriate if there was any. Certainly the message was most memorable and had the punch of an unwavering and sincere politician committed to NZ people, and particularly Maori and the low-income.
you most probably won’t get this from the mainstream media..
..but colorado has just become the first place in the world to sign into law a legalised/regulated/taxed pot-regime for adults..
..so there is our blueprint of how to do it..eh..?
..apparantly they are so onto it..the regulators are able to track from seed to end-product..
..phillip ure
Lolz, learn how to clone and free the weed…
Must suck to be a Labour supporter right now (not as bad for the Greens) but don’t worry about the polls I’m sure they’re not indicitive of the massive groundswell of support building for Labour under the astute stewardship of David Shearer…at this rate Labour will be back in power by 2020 🙂
‘
Interesting poll, that Reid one. Of course, the sample is too small to justify your confidence but did you see that most National Ltd™ voters were in favour of the NZ Power solution to being rorted by the corporates? There’s a skerrick of hope for youse yet. Psychologically, I mean.
You actually put your reasoning on one poll a year out from election day? National doesn’t have that great a lead, and all these polls always write off NZ First and Mana, even though they have a strong following in their own way. I doubt even National’s inner circle believe you can know who will most likely win, till the months or weeks before election day.
Snigger, we really really believe it when we are told constantly by the polls that National have enough support to govern alone,
We all know this has to be true because for the past two election cycles the polls have been telling us this,
There is of course only one small problem with that which in abbreviated terminology says, ”they didn’t and they still haven’t”
Minus 1 or 2% in November 2014 and it’s haere ra National and who cares who the leader of the Labour Party is if He or She supports the stopping of the electricity rort with things like NZPower and intends to support a guaranteed living wage for ALL workers…
Well most of Europe right now has weak coalition governments (especially Germany – where NZ took it’s MMP system from), Australia really is no different, and the US is very much divided. It is doubtful that even if National wins again, it would have anything but a weak coalition, it can’t break international trends. 😉
Have you got anything better to do than trolling for comments?
Constructive debate and discussion, maybe…
Peter Jackson takes to skies in $80M style
So good to know that NZ tax payers money went to a good cause. Also, how about sparing an extra pittance or three so that NZ workers can have union protection just like the actors you hire from Australia and USA? Or in fact, just like you have yourself?
The very definition of “rich prick”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/8728148/Jackson-takes-to-skies-in-80m-style
Well well. There’s a lesson for us all in that possums – something we can all ASPIRE to aye? (not)
An economy for the elite that we can all expire to
Yes keep on attacking Sir Peter Jackson because its worked so well in the past.
Because he is a manipulative arsehole. What was your point?
We aren’t politicians. We have sufficient rejects from real life for that task (you look quite good as a potential National candidate BTW). What happens here is that we express our opinions. And occasionally in my moderator role I’ll squash some cretinous fuckwit like yourself (see that is an opinion) who wants to insinuate that the site or the commentators are a political organisation.
This is a “gentle” warning..
I insinuated nothing, I said “keep attacking Sir Peter Jackson because its worked so well in the past” because this blog has had numerous attempts at smearing Sir Peter Jackson…as a rich prick, anti-union, lackey of Warner Bros etc etc
Nothing to do with this site or the commentators being a political organisation or otherwise
Bit touchy at the moment…
“…this blog has…”
Sigh, and 😆
Yeah, this winston has a problem with individualism. Seems like one of those conformist totalitarian dickheads to me… Obviously every author and commentator is “The Standard” – including himself.
After all he reads like just about every other right wing troll to me. Dispose of one and another duplicate pops up like a head at a fair’s shooting gallery with the same lame assertions about computer programs having opinions.
At least this one tries to reply and even attempts the difficult art of arguing rather than doing crapping an assertion and then immediately leave (like an incontinent poodle moving down a street).
So, basically, he read the book and thought it was all about communism, so figured he would use the name as a pseudonym in his valiant, solitary struggle against the left.
Yeah. Of course as with many of the Orwellian novels it is often hard to figure out which brand of totalitarian conformist nutters he was parodying. He was after all a democratic socialist* with a distinct dislike of all brands of conformist totalitarianism.
But it is clear that if that was where he got his name from and why he took it, then he clearly hasn’t read to the end of the book. After the rat room the fictional Winston Smith become just another blob staring adoringly at the image of his leader with an inability to think. Just like this one I suspect…..
* A stream of political thought that encourages individualism – far more so than the daft conformity of the libertarians with their obsessive theology of toy collection. Or for that matter or almost any other political philosophy I have seen. Even the anarchists have this strange obsession at having to all agree (conformity) or they’ll dissolve into complete societies of one. The democratic socialist acceptance and even promotion of eccentricity amongst groups has always been a wonder to behold. And most importantly it fosters agreeing to disagree….
Yes you got something right, the anti union antics of the Warner Bros lackey have been well documented here and elsewhere…
Arsehole Peter Jackson smeared himself with his lies. All that happened on this blog was that those lies were pointed out.
Indeed he did. But you know what’s more depressing? !!!!
It’s when someone (with a history of someone struggling in the industry, and having sampled the lowliest of the low – including serious jailtime as a result of Sth American totalitarian juntas) becomes so SO immune to the plight of ‘the film-maker’s community’ (i.e. his peers). That Petey isn’t such a bad bloke after all – AYE?.
I’m not exactly sure what the Paekak dak delivers – but it’s obviously pretty potent.
Thats Sir Peter Jackson to the likes of you
Fucktard McSellout, more likely. Not everyone immediately cums at the thought of someone who bought a tin-plate title off a used currency salesman.
Nope. If I was to even use the title “sir” (not going to happen because I’m not a brown noser like yourself) to someone it would be to someone I respect. I don’t respect liars.
“Sir” Graham Henry is another notorious liar.
Watch for him in my series Liars of Our Time….
Jackson is yesterday’s news.
Game of Thrones is a much better watch than his dragged out travelogues.
Season 3 was more anticipated in this household than the Hobbit was, and it will be the same for season 4.
Movies are dead. High end TV series with a guaranteed pay TV audience are the future.
lol.
Peters asks Dunne (during an unrelated committee meeting) if it was him what leaked the Kitteridge report. Cue arguments about whether the question is in order or whatever nevermind Dunne ends up confirming that he’s been spoken to as part of the investigation into who leaked ouch. *laughs*
With a few exceptions most forget ( or don’t want to acknowledge ) that poll proportions are a % of those who didn’t say fuck off( not of the general population. Therefore 45% may well be only 45% of 18-20% of those with a landline. That should leave at least 70% to be influenced by good policy and if that policy is telegraphed too early pale imitations or window-dressed versions of it will be stolen, and thats why we have a ( albeit better than nothing ) half-arsed ” Breakfast in Schools” programme.
On Shearer/ Cuniliffe, be careful not to buy in and feed the MSM’s castigation of DS, if DC was leader the arseholes would be in paroxysms of red-baiting and thunderous editorials of communist takeovers and I’m sure that that buck-toothed idiot Gower would even come in his pants on a live cross to the Beehive over some concocted Stalinist bullshit.
Remember Hooten et al are just doing what they are paid for.
Level the playing field for solar power in New Zealand!
As an investor in a NZ solar company, I was shocked to discover that a careless change in the rules – requiring solar companies to use a particular inverter technology that hasn’t even been invented yet – could come into force any day now and stop our solar industry dead in its tracks. If this were the fossil fuel lobby, would we ever have to worry about something like this?
Solar panels are not just a green technology, they’re also a great financial investment for New Zealand homes and businesses and a potentially huge source of economic growth. We should be pulling out all the stops to help the solar industry develop, not putting one obstacle after another in its path. Even John Key called for reducing “the Pacific region’s reliance on expensive fossil fuels for electricity” a few weeks ago.
New Zealand has almost unlimited potential to generate clean energy from the sun. That’s why I’m calling on regulators — who have been asleep at the wheel — to roll up their sleeves and level the playing field for solar energy by creating a clear, nationally-enforced standard; reducing the soft costs for installing solar; and creating a nationwide financing scheme and easy way for people to sell back their extra solar power production with a net-metering law. These measures would give so many more people access to this smart, environmentally beneficial investment! Please add your name and tell all your friends, and I’ll make sure the law-drafters get our message loud and clear.
Join us! Click below to sign the petition and forward to everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_New_Zealands_solar_industry_from_accidental_death/?bhNKcdb&v=25172
With hope,
Iain, Michelle, Scott and the whole Avaaz team
PS: This petition was started by an Avaaz member on our Community Petitions site. It’s quick and easy to start a petition on any issue you care about, click here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=25121
If people think that the (from the earth) fuel companies, will take solar heating lying down, I would be very surprised.
The oil/banking cartel own the politicians, and are not going anywhere, as long as they can drill it from the earth!
The other problem to deal with for the solar energy proponents, is that of global dimming, and the impact of geo-engineering on the amount of suns rays reaching the planets surface!
More cronyism from National:
So, firstly the applicant didn’t apply in time and then the minister didn’t accept the candidates until she had the one she wanted in the list.
This was raised yesterday in Question Time by Robertson.
Robertson has a further question on it scheduled for today’s QT:
The database server (and therefore the site) will be offline for a period late tonight.
I need to adjust some of the settings and that will require it to be offline for up to 20 minutes.
unexpected earthquake observation # 432
The Great Earth Monster shivers in the snow…
S.S. thugs still getting free air time on public radio
Will Kyle Chapman be next?
Nine to Noon, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 29 May 2013
Host: Lynn Freeman
First item up on Nine to Noon this morning was an interesting and learned discussion about the insane “Three Strikes” legislation. The guests were Hastings barrister Eric Forster and Victoria University criminology professor John Pratt. In contrast to many of the blowhards, maniacs and hypocrites who usually get air time on this issue, both of these men are learned and serious scholars of the law; both of them condemned the Three Strikes legislation as “insane”, and the consequence of a small number of ignorant politicians who believed in “magical thinking” being given a totally disproportionate amount of power. This discussion ended about 9:40 a.m.
Just over two hours later, host Lynn Freeman felt compelled to read out a long and belligerent email in favour of Three Strikes. This email was written by the disgraced, discredited convicted grave-robber, doctor-assaulter, serial sexual harasser, former ACT MP, and S.S. man David Garrett. Poor old Lynn Freeman, who I know detests and despises David Garrett and his evil organization, read the email in a tone of obvious distress, as well as distaste.
Then, incredibly, a few minutes later, just before the end of the programme, she read ANOTHER urgent email from the bowels of Hell. This time it was from the Grand Wizard of the S.S. himself, Garth “The Knife” McVicar. In contrast to the rabid David Garrett, the Grand Wizard’s email was written in a tone of wounded disappointment; the two experts, he whined, were “well known opponents of the legislation”. The entirely false display of emotion by this creep rendered that email even more offensive and insulting than Garrett’s.
Surely, if any organization has thoroughly discredited itself and should not be indulged in any way, it is this vicious and hypocritical bunch of gangsters. I know that there is not one person at Radio New Zealand who feels anything other than loathing for the S.S. Trust and for David Garrett and Garth “The Knife” McVicar. Yet here we were, this morning, forced to listen to the thoroughly unedifying phenomenon of a fine broadcaster being forced to read out crass emails from not just one, but TWO personae non grata.
I have no doubt that the receptionsists at Radio NZ National suffered a deluge of coordinated abuse, through telephone calls and emails, for the two hours before those two emails were read out.
I wonder who made the decision to cave in to their hectoring; I know that it was not the journalists.
Sometimes, sunshine, I worry about you……..
Sometimes, sunshine, I worry about you……..
Thanks, buddy! I’m feeling the love.
Where are the ‘three strikes’ against ‘white collar’ crime and ‘white collar’ criminals?
Penny Bright
Where are the ‘three strikes’ against ‘white collar’ crime and ‘white collar’ criminals?
For them, it’s three chances.
Or, to use corporate-speak, three OPPORTUNITIES.
Or more, if they need them.
Everytime I think of the SS Trust, I think of a bunch of hooded people standing round a lynched brown person.
Everytime I think of the SS Trust, I think of a bunch of hooded people standing round a lynched brown person.
Entirely understandable, millsy, but in reality it’s a bunch of intolerant people sitting in a radio studio (NewstalkZB) pouring scorn and abuse on a lynched brown person in South Auckland, and ridiculing his family. That’s what they did, day in, day out, session after session, hour after hour in 2008 and 2009, and still occasionally do whenever somebody mentions the word “tagger”.
Wait until a two strikes offender kills a victum because he cant get his skateboard. What a fuss that will cause.
I thought the most compelling argument was that those on 2 strikes dont really have the moral judgemnt needed to ‘obey’ the law.
Something called “Dv” tried, unwisely, to be clever….
Wait until a two strikes offender kills a victum because he cant [sic] get his skateboard.
What possible precedent do you have to suggest such a scenario?
What a fuss that will cause.
Nonsense. Your dull fantasy lacks even the slightest plausibility.
I thought the most compelling argument was that those on 2 strikes dont really have the moral judgemnt needed to ‘obey’ the law.
Nor, as recent events have reinforced, do the people in the top echelons of the New Zealand police. And, as shown by their failures in Afghanistan, neither do the top brass in the New Zealand Defence Force.
No doubt you will be calling for these people to be sent to jail for fifteen to twenty years. Or do you get ALL your opinions directly from talk radio?
Am I correct in believing that a third guest (aside from Eric Forster and John Pratt) was invited to participate, but declined?
The ‘trickle down’ effect does work! – at least at RNZ.
Am I correct in believing that a third guest (aside from Eric Forster and John Pratt) was invited to participate, but declined?
Possibly that awful Ruth Money, who I see has become the main spokesghoul for the S.S. Trust.
The ‘trickle down’ effect does work! – at least at RNZ.
This comment has me intrigued. Could you explain what you mean?
Martian thingamajig?
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd112/breadmaker99/corregated1_zpsc5e1f7c7.jpg
Hoaxed. It’s part of the Rover.
http://marswatch.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/images/Sol3137B_Matijevic_Pan_L257atc.jpg
Better images here
http://earth-chronicles.ru/news/2013-04-09-42015
The DEFENDANT – ‘dodgy’ John Banks is back in the Auckland District Court, (Albert St) Thursday 30 May 2013.
As I understand it – this case will be stood down until 11.45am, because Private Prosecutor Graham McCready will not be able to attend before that time.
It is my intention to have banners up outside the Court from 11am.
Do come along if you are able! 🙂
Being FINALLY held accountable in a Court of Law – has been a VERY long time coming for the DEFENDANT John Banks.
The BIG question is – how come Prime Minister John Key has not yet stood down as Minister, the DEFENDANT, Minister of Regulatory Reform, Minister of Small Business, Associate Minister of Education and Associate Minister of Commerce – ACT MP for Epsom – the arguably ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks?
Former National MP Aaron Gilmore, was effectively forced to leave Parliament, yet he never faced charges in Court, unlike the DEFENDANT John Banks!
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption/ anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate