“I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word in that I lived and worked undercover overseas – pretending to work in a job that I’m not – and even being assigned a name that was not mine,” he said.
He said he had worked covertly as “a technical expert” for the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, and as a trainer for the Defence Intelligence Agency.
“I don’t work with people. I don’t recruit agents. What I do is I put systems to work for the United States. And I’ve done that at all levels – from the bottom on the ground all the way to the top,” Snowden said.
He said he had lectured at the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy “where I developed sources and methods for keeping our information and people secure in the most hostile and dangerous environments around the world”.
“So when they say I’m a low-level systems administrator, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’d say it’s somewhat misleading.”
Right my beauties, just want to build on Mickey’s (26 May) analysis of the two latest polls (One News Colmar Brunton and 3 News Reid Research:
Not interested in analysing through rose-tinted glasses (as our Tory chums would accuse us of) but do want to keep things in perspective.
(1)Volatility
You wouldn’t know it from the zero-sum rhetoric constantly regurgitated by National’s bought-and-paid-for bloggers like Whaleoil and Farrar – nor from leading journos like Armstrong, Clifton and Watkins – but this year (indeed, the whole electoral cycle since the last election) has been characterised by a good deal of volatility in public opinion. Just this year alone, National’s poll ratings have bounced around between 42% and 51% and their support in 2012 and 2013 saw a very similar range of movement.
Currently, the Nats are riding on a bit of a high, averaging 49% and the Right Bloc 52% (May average). Certainly, Whaleoil is making the most of it – with all the overblown rhetoric we’ve come to expect: “…dreadful reading for Labour”, Labour in “deep trouble” and so on (http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/05/two-polls-labour-big-trouble/).
But you can’t quite shake a profound sense of deja vu, here. Back in February-early March, National and the Right experienced an even better bounce – 5 consecutive polls giving the Nats a 50% average, with the Right Bloc as a whole on 53%. And precisely the same hyperbole (National soaring / Labour sinking ever deeper into the mire) followed. Throughout February, Whaleoil variously cast the Left as “a drowning man” (1), celebrated “National’s surge” (2), derided “Labour’s poll woes” (3) and “tensions inside caucus” (1), suggested the polls had “burst (Labour’s) bubble” (3), displayed a certain flair for the double-negative by declaring that “the polls throughout February have shown that (Labour’s) misplaced hope in a new leader was a false hope.” (3) (presumably as opposed to a thoroughly sound misplaced hope), crowed loudly that Labour had been “poll-axed” (4) with “Labour and Cunliffe sinking fast” (4), bullshitted outrageously about National’s “unprecedented levels of support” (3) apparently making it “the most popular government and Prime Minister in the modern era” (3), predicted “disaster for the Left” (5), speculating wildly that Labour was heading for a “resounding defeat” and that “Phil Goff’s record loss may well be challenged” come September. (3)
Those doyens of the Free Press – Armstrong, Clifton and Watkins et al – saw similar dire consequences for the Left and were certain that National’s poll ratings would hold, if not increase – after all, according to these leading journos, the Nats’ support levels had barely moved an inch since well before the 2011 Election. Even Chris Trotter on the Left jumped on the bandwagon, fearing it was “All over Bar the Counting”, with the Left apparently facing a far greater electoral humiliation than they could ever have dreaded.
So what actually happened in the 4 subsequent polls of March ? Did National continue its apparently inevitable onward surge to victory ? Well, not quite. In the wake of the Oravida and Te Kohanga Reo scandals, the Nats in fact plunged 5 percentage points to a 45% average over those 4 consecutive polls, with the Right Bloc falling by a similar margin (down 4 to 49%). Seems things weren’t cast in stone afterall !
Party support remained relatively steady in April (Nats 46% / Right 49%) and then a surge again in May to 49 and 52% for National and the Right respectively. Largely, of course, on the back of the latest 2 TV Polls which can reasonably be put down to a budget-bounce, with the Nats tentatively transgressing into Labour-lite territory. National’s spin-meisters will, of course, suggest this swing is permanent, indeed may presage an even greater surge over coming months. Mickey’s already dealt with this. All I’ll say for now is that given the demonstrable volatility in public opinion this year, I have serious doubts that National’s more softly-aligned supporters will stay in the blue corner for long. They’ve been moving back and forth for a long time now (not only between Labour and National / Green and National, but also in and out of the Undecided category).
So at the moment, I’d take all this talk of a new upward phase for National with a pinch of the proverbial. We’ve heard it all before.
(2)National Poll Support – Inflated in the Past and Well-Down relative to 2008 / 2011
Let’s also remind ourselves just how piss poor National’s poll ratings have been since the last election (compared to the 2007-2011 period). The contrast is quite striking.
But before laying out the solid numbers, I’ll just employ dear old Whaleoil himself to make my point for me. We’ve seen that Slater Jnr has made strenuous efforts this year to characterise the the polls as disastrous for Labour and brilliant for National. Go back to Whaleoil posts of 2008 and 2011 and you’ll see remarkably similar rhetoric: “Poll Devastation” (May 2008) (6), “Poll Destruction” (June 2008) (7), “Another Poll, Another Disaster for Labour” (June 2008) (8), “Labour on Perilous Downhill Slope” (June 2008) (9), “Rogue Poll Devastates Labour…Again” (september 2008) (10). And in 2011 – “Labour Poll Disaster” (early July 2011) (11), “Disaster for Hapless Labour” (July 2011) (12), “Labour’s Poll Disasters Continue” (late July 2011) (13), and finally, once again displaying a remarkably creative turn of phrase, “Labour’s Poll Disasters Continue” (October 2011) (14).
But dig a little deeper and you’ll find one major discrepancy between then and now. Whaleoil’s headlines might be uncannily similar but National’s poll ratings certainly aint !!!
His 2008 and 2011 posts were prompted by almost stratospheric National poll support in the mid-to-high 50s, occassionally reaching as much as 60%. His May 2008 “Poll Devastation”, for instance, alludes to a Fairfax Poll that put National at 56% – 27 points ahead of Labour, “Poll Destruction” (June 2008) focussed on National’s 55% in a One News Colmar Brunton Poll, while his 2011 posts were predicated upon Nat poll ratings of 55% ( 3 News ), 56% ( Fairfax ), 56% ( One News Colmar Brunton ) and 57% ( 3 News ).
Fast forward to 2014 and it speaks volumes that Whaleoil is now forced to employ precisely the same hyperbolic rhetoric when National is receiving 5-10 points less in the polls. A few weeks ago (March 30), he was even reduced to acclaiming the Right’s stunning poll numbers when National were on a mere 45.9% ( 3News ) and 47% ( One News ), 10-12 points down on some of those 2011 figures. ( “Well, I’ll be Fooked” (with an Irish accent), indeed !!! ).
And, of course, we all know precisely how “accurate” those polls of 2006-2011 were ! – the Nats took a mere 45% of the Party Vote at the 2008 Election (hardly any of the 62 polls of 08 had them that low, most put them above 50%). And they took 47% in 2011 (not one of the 125 polls carried out between Jan 2009 and the 2011 election had them that low, with the vast majority putting them over 50% and a sizeable minority over 55%).
A few stats to back me up are on the way in the not too distant future…….
The media seem oblivious to labour polling higher than on election day 2011, to come up with the bizarre conclusion that support for labour is falling.
Also, a less reported poll shows business confidence has fallen for the third month in a row a smidge over half of businesses are optimistic.
“New Zealand business confidence extended its slide from a record high to a third month, in the face of rising interest rates, declining dairy prices and a persistently high kiwi dollar. A net 53.5 percent of firms are optimistic about general business conditions this month, according to the ANZ Business Outlook survey, down from a 20-year high of 70.8 percent in February.”
Cheers, Mickey. I’ll be away from ze internet for the next 24 hours – so won’t be able to reply to anyone. But feel free to use it. (I really need to learn how to make considerably less messy – and, as you can see, in some cases outrageously unsuccessful – links though).
swordfish – you pierced right into the guts of the matter.
One thing – you said National was often polling 5% to 10% down today, compared to just a few years ago. What about Labour’s relative polling today, compared to just a few years ago? And if there is a difference in shift, where did the difference go – into the undecideds?
I’m in a real rush, CV. Almost out the door. But I’ll reply directly to your questions in Open Mike at some point in the next few days. Absolutely promise – because, at the same time, I want to deal with arguments by our much-loved regularTory Troll Chris73 and Bloggers like Farrar and Whaleoil that Labour and Left support was equally over-stated (therefore cancelling out any disadvantage to the Nats) and that the Tories’ dive at the 2011 Election (relative to their polling throughout the previous year) was all down to the Tea-Cup saga.
They’re wrong on both counts. But It’ll take more time than I’ve got at the moment to set-out the figures.
Thought it might do swordfish’s offerings more justice if his second post was part of his initial thread?
swordfish 7
29 May 2014 at 9:25 am
Here’s a few stats to highlight the degree to which support for both National and the Right Bloc was consistently over-stated (month after month) in the run-up to the last 2 elections:
National Monthly Poll Averages 2011
( To read these stats, the Nats averaged 52% in the polls of January 2011 and that was 5 percentage points higher than the proportion they in fact received at the subsequent election )
Jan 52% (+5), Feb 52% (+5), March 52% (+5), April 54% (+7), May 52% (+5), June 53% (+6), July 53% (+6), August 54% (+7), Sept 55% (+8), Oct 54% (+7), Early Nov 52% (+5), Late Nov 51% (+4), 2011 Election: 47%
Nat Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 49% (+4), Feb 52% (+7), March 50% (+5), April 51% (+6), May 52% (+7), June 54% (+9), July 51% (+6), August 49% (+4), Sept 49% (+4), Early/Mid Oct 48% (+3), Late Oct/Early Nov 46% (+1), 2008 Election: 45%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2011
Jan 56% (+3), Feb 55% (+2), March 55% (+2), April 58% (+5), May 56% (+3), June 58% (+5), July 57% (+4), August 57% (+4), Sept 59% (+6), Oct 57% (+4), Early Nov 56% (+3), Late Nov 55% (+2), 2011 Election: 53%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 52% (=), Feb 56% (+4), March 54% (+2), April 55% (+3), May 56% (+4), June 58% (+6), July 55% (+3), August 54% (+2), Sept 54% (+2), Early/Mid Oct 53% (+1), Late Oct/Early Nov 52% (=), 2008 Election: 52%
In January this year, National were averaging 7 points below their 2011 Jan average, in February 3 below, in March 6 below, in April 8 below and in May 3 below. The Right Bloc in January 2014 were averaging 7 below their 2011 January average, 2 below in Feb, 5 below in March, 9 below in April and 4 below in May.
The gaps are even greater if you compare the same point in the electoral cycle (4 months out, 6 months out, 8 months out etc – given that the elections of 08 and 11 took place in Nov rather than Sept – so comparing, for example, the May 2014 stats with the July 08 and 11 stats).
Here is an opportunity to vent your anger at Nationals # 2 snake oil salesman. The loud hailer battery will be fully charged for those that have a decent rant ready to rip.
Let the cabinet club present know that a recent poll showed over 60% of of Kiwi’s agree that they think that the National Party’s political donation structure is cronie capitalism!
Steve Joyce is addressing invited guests at 12:30 Friday May 30th 2014
at the ASB area of the Kensington Park Stadium.
If you have some issues you would like to draw to his attention this is an opportunity
to bring a banner, placard, leaflets to politely inform his luncheon guests of your misgivings of National Party Policies.
These may include their policies toward:
GMOs,
treaty issues, the continuing theft of Maori land
toxic mining,
water quality,
RMA reforms,
preventing local government provide rules to protect us and our environment issues.
And any other issue that gets on your goat.
from predatory investors,
TPPA,
charter schools, publicly funded ‘schools for profit’ with little or no oversight,
climate change denial and lack of response to protect dirty industry,
These are only suggestions I am sure there are many others.
Please Note: To those activists that have managed to infiltrate this political donations junket you are advised not to indulge in the feast on offer.
That is if you don’t want to risk the unpleasant experience of the sudden onset of explosive diarrhea. Just remember Stephen Joyce will be spraying enough verbal diarrhea that in itself is enough to make you vomit. So my advice is don’t subject yourself to a double dose!
Notice that Joyce seldom looks directly at those to whom he is speaking. Modestly eyes downcast. How sweet and demure. But the other day during QT as soon as Joyce began one of his long tedious answers Brownlie sitting beside him struggled and struggled to suppress a yawn. And failed!
Ha ha Gerry probably had too many pork pies for lunch and needed a nanny nap, mind you he has heard the ‘same old Joyce snake oil’ day in, day out. I loved Joyce’s interview on the Nation the other week where he was quite hysterical attacking Labour’s new monetary policy.
The jealousy of envy was very evident.
What a disgrace to the hard working wood work teachers out there. Gerry being a former of that profession. If you and I openly fell asleep on the job we would rightfully expect a strum up, to think the tax payer is paying for lard arse Gerry to nod off. At least I’m being productive for the taxpayer lol.
Morning Report (give them a high-five) did a short piece on Maya Angelou USA poet, a black woman with verve and style and experiences that have destroyed others. She put it together and made a mountain. And she came down from it to write poetry and become an academic and many other things. I couldn’t see an audio link but here is youtube.
I read “I know why the caged bird sings” many many years ago and it was a watershed moment. her voice is fabulous, so hearing her read her own works is a fullsome experience.
Here’s a few stats to highlight the degree to which support for both National and the Right Bloc was consistently over-stated (month after month) in the run-up to the last 2 elections:
National Monthly Poll Averages 2011
( To read these stats, the Nats averaged 52% in the polls of January 2011 and that was 5 percentage points higher than the proportion they in fact received at the subsequent election )
Jan 52% (+5), Feb 52% (+5), March 52% (+5), April 54% (+7), May 52% (+5), June 53% (+6), July 53% (+6), August 54% (+7), Sept 55% (+8), Oct 54% (+7), Early Nov 52% (+5), Late Nov 51% (+4), 2011 Election: 47%
Nat Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 49% (+4), Feb 52% (+7), March 50% (+5), April 51% (+6), May 52% (+7), June 54% (+9), July 51% (+6), August 49% (+4), Sept 49% (+4), Early/Mid Oct 48% (+3), Late Oct/Early Nov 46% (+1), 2008 Election: 45%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2011
Jan 56% (+3), Feb 55% (+2), March 55% (+2), April 58% (+5), May 56% (+3), June 58% (+5), July 57% (+4), August 57% (+4), Sept 59% (+6), Oct 57% (+4), Early Nov 56% (+3), Late Nov 55% (+2), 2011 Election: 53%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 52% (=), Feb 56% (+4), March 54% (+2), April 55% (+3), May 56% (+4), June 58% (+6), July 55% (+3), August 54% (+2), Sept 54% (+2), Early/Mid Oct 53% (+1), Late Oct/Early Nov 52% (=), 2008 Election: 52%
In January this year, National were averaging 7 points below their 2011 Jan average, in February 3 below, in March 6 below, in April 8 below and in May 3 below. The Right Bloc in January 2014 were averaging 7 below their 2011 January average, 2 below in Feb, 5 below in March, 9 below in April and 4 below in May.
The gaps are even greater if you compare the same point in the electoral cycle (4 months out, 6 months out, 8 months out etc – given that the elections of 08 and 11 took place in Nov rather than Sept – so comparing, for example, the May 2014 stats with the July 08 and 11 stats).
Gerry Brownlee, Controller of Christchurch. Done the expected poor job for the people in general, (expected by me and damn I am right, when it would be better to be wrong and eat humble pie.) Have some specific people received good outcomes? A small number. But you would never know the extent of his failure when listening to him.
He is an incredible politician, with the smooth delivery of half-truths, lies and promises that NACT specialises in. Not credible. I dub Brownlee The Incredible Hulk. No doubt this is not an original idea.
Gerry would still come across as an Incredible Sulk anyway.
There is another word that rhymes with that but I am not bringing physical appearance into the debate. Poor attitudinal characteristics relevant for statesmanship are another matter and need to be pointed out.
“An Anglican pastor has quit the church and is taking his congregation with him after the governing body moved ahead with plans to bless same-sex relationships.”
Wonder if a follow-up will show whether the congregation did follow him in significant numbers? Times are a-changing Vicar. Keep up lad. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11263531
the slimy little turd gluon espiner mentioned left wing about fifity times this morning on the right wing radio show with his other sad little righty mate. if he does it again I think I am going to upchuck about fifty weetbix!
Lolz Phillip, i can attest to a certain extent to the non-addictive nature of psychedelic substances, there’s a world of pain tho in the ”expression” of bottled up trauma, especially if expressed in a public place,
Such pain is unfortunately not necessarily confined to those who are with the help of pyschedelic’s doing the ”expressing” it tends to also extend to the ”audience”…
The next time someone drops a psychedelic and thinks they can fly, please do yourself a favour and take off from the ground and not the top of a multi storey car park.
he must have been dreaming…this is possible in the dream world where one can defy gravity and survive..ie wake up…also there is a theory that everyday things can be solved in the dream world …but how to remember ?
Lolz, like i, the US military knows quite a bit about the use of pyschedelics but will never tell, like for instance the ability for those subjected to X amounts of the substance over X period of time to have an ability to look straight through walls, even those constructed of concrete, and tell what a person on the other side of it is wearing…
The Peter Lyons article below from the Herald today is excellent.
It is probably misleading in one aspect where he quotes wage growth at 14% and inflation at 10% during the term of this government. Though these figures may well be right but from various media reports I have read it would seem the bulk of the pay rises have gone to the better off leaving the bottom 50% with wages not keeping up with inflation. (I don’t have stats but would love to see some).
Peter Lyons is very good; underrated. He relates economics to everyday life and to other themes in a way few can. Reminds me of Bruce Jesson.
This is another example: http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/298191/corporate-obfuscation-cannot-hide-truth
Column in the odt a few weeks back on how the inhumanity and downright unreasonableness of redundancy processes are flannelled in management speak to reduce people to disposable units.
Radionz item on putting on weight – strange that it has happened in last 30 years. There is a graphic on their site with two parents both overblown. It looks as if they are out doing what the government wants them to do – consumer spending.
The item says that NZ men have put on weight the fastest in their measurements – from OECD. Yeah we win again.
We could come up with pub games where men rush their stomachs at each other and see how far they can bounce the other outside a circle. That would make a change from tossing dwarfs.
And this is how the message ran, good afternoon 2011 Green party voters, the InternetMana alliance thanks you for the big ups, but, if you voted Green in 2011 it is best to stick with voting Green again in 2014,
There are ”other” rich sources of sourcing votes that the InternetMana alliance are excellently positioned to take full advantage of, including:
The fast failing Maori Party, party and electorate vote,
The tactical voters who did not vote Green last time round,
The missing million, the vast bulk of whom are registered but did not vote in 2011…
“Why making the election a Public Holiday would lift voting numbers.
…The fact we are one of the few democracies that can change power minus violence and intimidation should be a source of celebration and deep pride……I think that standing in line with your fellow citizens to vote is a necessary part of the engagement process and online voting doesn’t create that. Selfies proclaiming that people have voted will be a great means of building awareness, but it can’t replace the real social element of sharing the same physical space peacefully with people who have the opposite agenda that you do.
Apart from the ease with which online voting can be hacked, the physical space sharing social interaction is a crucial democratic engagement.
I think the reason our election should also be a public holiday is based on that shared social experience.
On the same subject, voting that is of the compulsory type, there appears to be a conference going on today in Wellington where the discussion has turned to that very topic, compulsory voting,
A professor, visiting i think from Ireland has said that if we want to have more of those able to participating then we should at least try compulsory voting,
Judith Collins Pfft, quoted on the same subject by RadioNZ National said that Compulsory Voting would ”be less democratic”,(that begs the question that compulsory enrollment to vote must really kneecap the democratic process right),
Bomber might be on to something there with the holiday idea, couple a day off with a compulsion to vote as the reward and we might get a far better turnout than the present…
Nah CV, why should those who are forced to work holidays be punished, a day in lieu would fix that and they could take their holiday on a day that the whole capitalist world wouldn’t collapse because of their absence,(being also allowed to cast a special vote as well would help)…
Yeah Tracey, to a certain extent what’s occurring is a ”beltway game” but for us political junkies and those interested enough to be taking even a minor interest what has occurred is quite enlightening,
Take Sharples for instance, Tory Lapdog or Rangatira???, it appears from the unfolding story that all it takes for Sharples to shed any vestiges of Mana and Rangatiratanga that He may or may not have previously possessed is for a couple of the Massah Bosses in the form of Tory MP’s/Minsters to bail Him up in a Parliamentary corridor and put the hard word on Him,
The last vestiges of the Maori Party voting base should take note,
National of course are desperate to delay this Bill until the House rises for the election, there’s miles of Bad Bad publicity inherent in English having to use His veto to trash the extra paid parental leave that the Bill contains,
National largely ”got away with” failing to impose its version of ”resource heaven” when it found that it couldn’t force through Legislation to impose its desired changes, simply because the toothless media hardly gave the situation a mention,
Lolz, Grant Robertson, in a loaded question posed to Gerry Brownlee in the House this afternoon enquired whether National intended to pass some more employment Legislation befor the House rises, methinks Grant believes National will not have the numbers to pass the intended Legislation either, the subtleties of this which seemed to fly straight over Brownlees head,
What such ”beltway games” expose where National hasn’t the numbers to pass its Legislative agenda into Law is simply a Government that is a lame-duck…
i didn’t see the parliament in session last night Tracey, aging from what i can gather Sharples wasn’t in the chamber for the vote, the fact that the Tory MP’s managed to bail Him up in the corridor would suggest tho that He wasn’t far away,
From one angled perception it could be suggested that Sharples deliberately let what occurred occur but there is not the slightest shred of evidence to suggest this, so i definitely wont be suggesting that Lol,
Obviously something lead the desperate National Government to believe it could kill Maroney’s Bill by voting the Maori Party proxies the wrong way, what it was we may never know, but, don’t believe for a moment that things within the Maori Party are all sweetness and light…
As an afterthought Tracey, Flavell should have stood in the Parliament today and waved the Maori Party/National Party coalition in the air and invited them to instruct the speaker to amend last nights vote,
He obviously has no eye for the theatrical and even less idea of the growing elephant in the room in the form of Annette Sykes growing support back home in the Waiariki electorate,
Flavell in effect begging the Speaker to alter what was something of National’s making simply makes Him look weak…
Since 2012, if an employee agrees, for a new position, the employer can offer a package and make its contribution inclusive of the gross salary if the employee agrees and joins kiwisaver?
If yes, for many lower skilled folks they are effectively agreeing to pay their kiwisaver contrib and the employers?
My advice make sure your a member of a Union, especially if your a low paid worker, do it on the down low if your afraid of that dirty 90 day trial law. Go to the CTU website for the right advice.
Yes, many employees will be lumping the employer share of kiwisaver.
Note that this does not apply to those on minimum wage, because minimum means minimum. For people earning the minimum, if they choose to join KS, their employer must pay the employer contribution in addition to their wage.
I think it is illegal. I’m pretty sure this has been tested in the courts. It is illegal for employers to demand that employees pay both contributions.
Currently it is legal the nats changed the law making it permissible. Which a number of ratbag employers did. The court case taken by a union in the aged care sector I think argued that for those on or close to minimum wage were in reality been paid less than the legal minimum happily they were successful. On the downside the employer s then counted this as a ‘payrise’ meaning getting an award the next year is much harder.
Do you have some info? I understood they were still writing the new legislation and had not released any details yet, so there is nothing to discuss but the knowledge they are writing the new legislation.
& that is a very short and very depressing conversation 🙂
New minimum ‘pay rate award’. A week can cover a fortnight. So you ‘work’ 20 hours one week, then 60 hours the next, and get paid 40 hours for both.
Maybe an employer can get you to work 120 hours one week, then drip-feed you your pay over the next couple of weeks. How soon before this flows on to the rest of the economy?
Imagine some of the more onerous and dangerous jobs being treated like this? Sooner or later something would have to give, and perhaps someone might be killed? Who then would be at fault? The employer, the employee, or the Government?
Imagine also the disruption to families.
On a separate note, Nick Smith has cancelled the Fiordland Monorail. Lets see what happens after the election!
i would suggest tho Phillip, that anyone listening to that pile of defecation from the evil baby look-a-like is either firmly in the fuck-you-Farrer camp or highly unlikely to vote InternetMana anyway,
I keep saying this to the ‘wing-nuts’, as far as the InternetMana alliance goes, its a science fiction double feature, the ‘Wing-nuts’ attempts at disparagement are far far to late, Doctor X has already built the creature…
Another laugh out loud coincidence???, the movie moguls from five of the Hollywood big studios had their legal eagles in the High Court at Auckland today arguing the toss trying to stop Dotcom getting His seized assets back,
i had the thought again, way too late children, Dotcom has already cashed up the InternetMana alliance so even if they could extract Him from the country befor the election, Slippery the Prime Minister will still be getting the Dotcom gift that just doesn’t stop giving, in Slippery’s case brain damage…
What chance Peter Dunne and Colin Craig look to stitch up something similar to Internet Mana?
Would make sense Dunne’s seat plus Colin’s 3%
Conservative Future anyone?
And that’s what’s lurking at the bottom of Pandora’s box now the $3m man and Hone have opened it.
Say goodbye to that coveted 3 seat gain as you blow kisses to the moral high ground.
I’ve noticed that with the tv3 news website in general. Fairly left leaning commentary in the majority has been my impression.
Not like Stuff which is very much the opposite.
Just did and wow! Paddy lost it in his ‘opinion piece’ – and those comments really lay into him. Some of them excellent analysis – not in his favour. Is the revolution about to happen?
PS – according to Paddy’s twitter feed, he went on leave last night;; long weekend in his home town, New Plymouth ? And suddenly this ‘contribution’.
lol, Poor wee Gower sounds like he is having a wee …er Paddy…
My response to Paddy’s hyperventilating:
Where was your passion when the National government ignored changing the MMP rules when they had a chance? Why didn’t they do that? This couldn’t have occurred if they had taken on board the recommendations.
Oh wait! I believe the answer is contained in his article ‘Never, ever was it envisaged they would be used as a back-door entry for a German millionaire to get his proxy into Parliament.‘
…wow! and that sounds like a pretty racist comment, there Paddy – what do you mean by that? – that it is o.k for NZ millionaires to rort the system? – is it just that you don’t want German born ones to do the rorting? Or is it more a thing about what political persuasion is involved when rorting of the system occurs?
Pretty easy fix to this one. The next government who gets in needs to tighten the MMP rules. Political parties, which of you are going to do that? [Did Labour already mention they would redress that? (not sure)]
In May 2012, HJS executive director Alan Mendoza explained the thinking behind the project:
“… we felt that such was public disgust with the system, there was a very real danger that politicians could seek to remedy the situation by legislating capitalism out of business.”
OPENING SPEECH IN THE FIRST READING DEBATE OF THE FEED THE KIDS BILL
Hone Harawira – MANA Leader and Te Tai Tokerau Member of Parliament
Wednesday 28 May 2014
Tēnā koe Mr Speaker
Mr Speaker, I move that the Education (Breakfast and Lunch Programmes in Schools) Amendment Bill be now read a first time.
I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.
Mr Speaker, Nelson Mandela once said that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” and if I could add a comment, it would be “and blaming those too vulnerable to care for themselves and their children, speaks more about our selfishness than it does about the hopelessness of poverty.”
Mr Speaker, back in April last year I was part of a big MANA Feed the Kids gig where we fed more than 1,500 kids up in Otara. They had heaps of fun and when they left they all took a lunch away, happily chanting “Feed the Kids”, and I thought to myself – these kids get it, their whanau get it, their teachers get it, and I sincerely hope enough of us get it too, because Treasury itself has told us there are now 285,000 kids living in poverty in Aotearoa, 100,000 of whom go to school hungry every day.
Yes, it’s nice to know that KidsCan feeds some 10,000 of them most days and that the KickStart programme feeds about 12,000 a day, but the reality is that even with government’s announcement in last year’s Budget, nearly 80,000 children are still going to school hungry in Aotearoa, every single day.
And yes, schools around the country have started their own breakfast clubs with support from teachers, students, parents, local businesses and the wider community – but they tell us that it takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of goodwill to keep it going, and that having secure funding would be a godsend.
And the really embarrassing thing is that nearly every country in the OECD, apart from us, already runs programmes to feed kids at school.
Some, like Finland and Sweden provide fully state-funded meals to every school student as part of a wider framework of child wellbeing – a commitment that sees them regularly top the international surveys in child health and educational achievement.
Some provide free meals to kids with parents on low incomes and others provide free meals to schools in areas of high deprivation, but while the approaches differ, they all share the same view – backed up by the same kind of research and information from teachers, doctors, nurses and policy analysts, that is available to us here – that kids need a good feed every day if they are to develop into healthy, and well educated adults.
Mr Speaker, New Zealand really needs to join the rest of the enlightened world and make a commitment to feeding our kids, starting with those in greatest need, to help them to grow well and learn well.
Groups like the Child Poverty Action Group have long advocated for government-funded food in schools programmes as a simple and cheap step to reducing poverty.
The report of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, released a year and a half ago now, did not recommend throwing in a few dollars only if the corporates gave some as this government has proposed – no – they recommended that “government should develop and implement a government-funded food in schools programme” and that “government has a responsibility to provide leadership and resources, to assist schools through a national strategy for food in Early Childhood Centres and schools in low decile neighbourhoods.”
Mr Speaker – I have been humbled by the positive responses to MANA’s Feed the Kids Bill from a whole host of child, family, health, education, and faith organisations all around the country, who helped raise awareness about just how many of our kids are going to school hungry in Aotearoa, and what we should be doing about it.
They have worked hard to remind us all that the crisis of child hunger and its devastating effects on brain development, health and learning means we need to urgently focus on feeding the kids rather than blaming the parents; that poverty has doubled in the last 25 years and children are its greatest victim; and that poverty won’t go away without big changes in employment, wages, housing and support for families in need.
Mr Speaker – things have changed a lot from when everyone was scoffing at MANA for even talking about Feeding the Kids during Election 2011, to a TV poll last year that showed 70% of Kiwis support a government-funded food in schools programme; and to food in schools being the only policy issue to make the top 10 news stories in 2013.
And much of that awareness has come about as a result of the excellent work and commitment of the Community Coalition for Food in Schools – which now has 30 members – and in particular, the efforts of Deborah Morris-Travers, former CEO of Every Child Counts and now Advocacy Manager for UNICEF NZ.
Mr Speaker, the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group said that child poverty doesn’t just impact on children and their families – it costs all of us, a lot. In fact, it’s estimated that child poverty costs New Zealanders $6-8 billion a year – in health, justice system costs, and in lost productivity and a lower tax take – and yet we continue to be one of the worst performers in the OECD on child wellbeing.
Our rates of preventable diseases like rheumatic fever are high, we have lower educational achievement than in other developed countries, and yet we’ll happily spend nearly $1.5 billion a year on prisons to feed one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Unemployment is the highest it’s been for nearly 15 years, nearly half of all young Māori and PI are without work and are not in education or training, and the other half are getting ready to go to Aussie.
Feeding the Kids won’t solve all these problems – but it is real, it is affordable, it is something we can do right now, and we know that it will help our kids grow up to be better, healthier contributors to society.
We’ve costed the Bill to allow for a co-ordinator in each school to oversee the provision of breakfast and lunch in all decile 1-2 schools in Aotearoa; feeding more than 100,000 kids in our poorest communities; and using existing programmes like KidsCan and KickStart or working through other local initiatives.
With very few exceptions schools have supported the Feed the Kids kaupapa because they know they’ll get more bang for their educational buck – kids will turn up to school on time, they’ll be settled and not disruptive, and they’ll be ready to learn.
And while I’m at it I’d also like to thank all the secondary and tertiary students who backed this bill, because when young people say that hunger is their number one priority, and that food in schools is the best solution to it, then that says it all.
Mr Speaker – I know the bill isn’t perfect; I hear the korero about feeding the kids being a parent’s responsibility, but the truth is that a lot of people have been so poor, for so long, that they struggle to make the right choices and often end up making the wrong ones. And all the while our kids go hungry …
And I’ve heard a lot about increasing employment opportunities, and upgrading housing, and improving access to health and developing better educational pathways … and all of that is necessary and good, but it takes a long time to happen. And all the while our kids go hungry …
And every other proposal I’ve heard from the Child Poverty Action Group, the Children’s Commissioner, health promotion agencies and advisory groups all the way up to the World Health Organisation’s Report on Child Health, makes a lot of sense to me.
But all I want to do with this bill is make sure that as we work through all these other critical and important initiatives, our kids are getting fed.
Mr Speaker – I welcome the calls to extend the Bill to include the Kohanga and ECE sector and decile 3-4 schools, and to allow those involved in school and community gardens to make a contribution to this discussion too, because this is an exercise that will require the efforts of the whole community, and I urge the House to vote this bill through at first reading so that the Maori Affairs select committee can call for submissions from those who know best, and those who care most, in order that we can develop a robust food-in-schools programme that enhances the well-being of our children, and enhances the future prospects of our society.
All that stands between this bill going to its second reading, where it will receive proper debate and the full consideration, of parliament is the single vote of that scum Peter Dunne.
Just for this filthy act, every effort needs to be made, to ensure that Peter Dunne should not be returned to parliament as being morally and intellectually unfit for high office.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
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One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
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The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
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This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
Asia Pacific Report Two of the global Freedom Flotilla ships are being prepared in Turkey and almost ready for the upcoming humanitarian mission to Gaza. It is expected that the flotilla will include a New Zealand medical team. Kia Ora Gaza is a member of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition ...
Snowden says he work as a snoop at all levels.
And he’s been fibbing on his travel documents too.
Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage…
Wonder if Mr Fletcher was working in the UK in the job that he says he was?
So basically the CIA would phone him, and he’d say: “Have you tried switching it off and on again?”
Snowden’s NBC interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOCmqZzXrdI
why the internet/mana party will do so much better than most are predicting..
..we are going to have another sea-change..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/bank-of-england-governor-capitalism-doomed-if-ethics-vanish-comment-ed-why-the-internetmana-party-will-succeed-they-will-promise-to-repair-our-ripped-up-social-contract/
How bizarre that National tried to stop someone who just became a grandfather from voting for a bill for improved paid parental leave.
Right my beauties, just want to build on Mickey’s (26 May) analysis of the two latest polls (One News Colmar Brunton and 3 News Reid Research:
Not interested in analysing through rose-tinted glasses (as our Tory chums would accuse us of) but do want to keep things in perspective.
(1) Volatility
You wouldn’t know it from the zero-sum rhetoric constantly regurgitated by National’s bought-and-paid-for bloggers like Whaleoil and Farrar – nor from leading journos like Armstrong, Clifton and Watkins – but this year (indeed, the whole electoral cycle since the last election) has been characterised by a good deal of volatility in public opinion. Just this year alone, National’s poll ratings have bounced around between 42% and 51% and their support in 2012 and 2013 saw a very similar range of movement.
Currently, the Nats are riding on a bit of a high, averaging 49% and the Right Bloc 52% (May average). Certainly, Whaleoil is making the most of it – with all the overblown rhetoric we’ve come to expect: “…dreadful reading for Labour”, Labour in “deep trouble” and so on (http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/05/two-polls-labour-big-trouble/).
But you can’t quite shake a profound sense of deja vu, here. Back in February-early March, National and the Right experienced an even better bounce – 5 consecutive polls giving the Nats a 50% average, with the Right Bloc as a whole on 53%. And precisely the same hyperbole (National soaring / Labour sinking ever deeper into the mire) followed. Throughout February, Whaleoil variously cast the Left as “a drowning man” (1), celebrated “National’s surge” (2), derided “Labour’s poll woes” (3) and “tensions inside caucus” (1), suggested the polls had “burst (Labour’s) bubble” (3), displayed a certain flair for the double-negative by declaring that “the polls throughout February have shown that (Labour’s) misplaced hope in a new leader was a false hope.” (3) (presumably as opposed to a thoroughly sound misplaced hope), crowed loudly that Labour had been “poll-axed” (4) with “Labour and Cunliffe sinking fast” (4), bullshitted outrageously about National’s “unprecedented levels of support” (3) apparently making it “the most popular government and Prime Minister in the modern era” (3), predicted “disaster for the Left” (5), speculating wildly that Labour was heading for a “resounding defeat” and that “Phil Goff’s record loss may well be challenged” come September. (3)
(1) http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/02/roy-morgan-poll-increases-pressure-cunliffe/
(2) http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/02/message-cunliffe/
(3) http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/02/labours-poll-woes-create-pressure-will-diamonds-coal/
(4) http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/03/labour-poll-axed-digipoll/
(5) http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/02/one-news-poll-signals-disaster-left/
Those doyens of the Free Press – Armstrong, Clifton and Watkins et al – saw similar dire consequences for the Left and were certain that National’s poll ratings would hold, if not increase – after all, according to these leading journos, the Nats’ support levels had barely moved an inch since well before the 2011 Election. Even Chris Trotter on the Left jumped on the bandwagon, fearing it was “All over Bar the Counting”, with the Left apparently facing a far greater electoral humiliation than they could ever have dreaded.
So what actually happened in the 4 subsequent polls of March ? Did National continue its apparently inevitable onward surge to victory ? Well, not quite. In the wake of the Oravida and Te Kohanga Reo scandals, the Nats in fact plunged 5 percentage points to a 45% average over those 4 consecutive polls, with the Right Bloc falling by a similar margin (down 4 to 49%). Seems things weren’t cast in stone afterall !
Party support remained relatively steady in April (Nats 46% / Right 49%) and then a surge again in May to 49 and 52% for National and the Right respectively. Largely, of course, on the back of the latest 2 TV Polls which can reasonably be put down to a budget-bounce, with the Nats tentatively transgressing into Labour-lite territory. National’s spin-meisters will, of course, suggest this swing is permanent, indeed may presage an even greater surge over coming months. Mickey’s already dealt with this. All I’ll say for now is that given the demonstrable volatility in public opinion this year, I have serious doubts that National’s more softly-aligned supporters will stay in the blue corner for long. They’ve been moving back and forth for a long time now (not only between Labour and National / Green and National, but also in and out of the Undecided category).
So at the moment, I’d take all this talk of a new upward phase for National with a pinch of the proverbial. We’ve heard it all before.
(2) National Poll Support – Inflated in the Past and Well-Down relative to 2008 / 2011
Let’s also remind ourselves just how piss poor National’s poll ratings have been since the last election (compared to the 2007-2011 period). The contrast is quite striking.
But before laying out the solid numbers, I’ll just employ dear old Whaleoil himself to make my point for me. We’ve seen that Slater Jnr has made strenuous efforts this year to characterise the the polls as disastrous for Labour and brilliant for National. Go back to Whaleoil posts of 2008 and 2011 and you’ll see remarkably similar rhetoric: “Poll Devastation” (May 2008) (6), “Poll Destruction” (June 2008) (7), “Another Poll, Another Disaster for Labour” (June 2008) (8), “Labour on Perilous Downhill Slope” (June 2008) (9), “Rogue Poll Devastates Labour…Again” (september 2008) (10). And in 2011 – “Labour Poll Disaster” (early July 2011) (11), “Disaster for Hapless Labour” (July 2011) (12), “Labour’s Poll Disasters Continue” (late July 2011) (13), and finally, once again displaying a remarkably creative turn of phrase, “Labour’s Poll Disasters Continue” (October 2011) (14).
(6)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2008/05/poll-devastation/
(7)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2008/06/poll-destruction/
(8)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2008/06/another-poll-another-disaster-for-labour/
(9)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2008/06/poll-of-polls-shows-labour-on-perilous-downhill-slope/
(10)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2008/09/rogue-poll-devastates-labour-again/
(11)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/07/labour-poll-disaster/
(12)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/07/digipoll-disaster-for-hapless-labour/
(13)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/07/labours-poll-disasters-continue/
(14)http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/10/labours-polls-disasters-continue/
But dig a little deeper and you’ll find one major discrepancy between then and now. Whaleoil’s headlines might be uncannily similar but National’s poll ratings certainly aint !!!
His 2008 and 2011 posts were prompted by almost stratospheric National poll support in the mid-to-high 50s, occassionally reaching as much as 60%. His May 2008 “Poll Devastation”, for instance, alludes to a Fairfax Poll that put National at 56% – 27 points ahead of Labour, “Poll Destruction” (June 2008) focussed on National’s 55% in a One News Colmar Brunton Poll, while his 2011 posts were predicated upon Nat poll ratings of 55% ( 3 News ), 56% ( Fairfax ), 56% ( One News Colmar Brunton ) and 57% ( 3 News ).
Fast forward to 2014 and it speaks volumes that Whaleoil is now forced to employ precisely the same hyperbolic rhetoric when National is receiving 5-10 points less in the polls. A few weeks ago (March 30), he was even reduced to acclaiming the Right’s stunning poll numbers when National were on a mere 45.9% ( 3News ) and 47% ( One News ), 10-12 points down on some of those 2011 figures. ( “Well, I’ll be Fooked” (with an Irish accent), indeed !!! ).
And, of course, we all know precisely how “accurate” those polls of 2006-2011 were ! – the Nats took a mere 45% of the Party Vote at the 2008 Election (hardly any of the 62 polls of 08 had them that low, most put them above 50%). And they took 47% in 2011 (not one of the 125 polls carried out between Jan 2009 and the 2011 election had them that low, with the vast majority putting them over 50% and a sizeable minority over 55%).
A few stats to back me up are on the way in the not too distant future…….
thanks for taking the time to put this together.
The media seem oblivious to labour polling higher than on election day 2011, to come up with the bizarre conclusion that support for labour is falling.
Also, a less reported poll shows business confidence has fallen for the third month in a row a smidge over half of businesses are optimistic.
“New Zealand business confidence extended its slide from a record high to a third month, in the face of rising interest rates, declining dairy prices and a persistently high kiwi dollar. A net 53.5 percent of firms are optimistic about general business conditions this month, according to the ANZ Business Outlook survey, down from a 20-year high of 70.8 percent in February.”
that read research polling company that is often quoted had a howler just before the last election..
..their last pre-election poll predicted national would get six percent higher..
..than they actually got on the day..
.whoar..!..
..eh..?
and yet the media frequently report on high business confidence… but not this one, funny that, aye?
tracey..tracey..it’s ‘eh?’…
..’aye’ is affirmation of others’ efforts..an underlining..
..and usually comes with an exclamation-mark..
..(‘it’s the little things’..eh..?..)
..and yes..maybe we need a blip-styling crowd-sourced factoid effort..?
.maybe ‘read research overestimated nationals’ ’11 election-result by a whopping 6%’..
..could be the first entry..?
Thanks Swordfish. Might convert this to a guest post.
Cheers, Mickey. I’ll be away from ze internet for the next 24 hours – so won’t be able to reply to anyone. But feel free to use it. (I really need to learn how to make considerably less messy – and, as you can see, in some cases outrageously unsuccessful – links though).
swordfish – you pierced right into the guts of the matter.
One thing – you said National was often polling 5% to 10% down today, compared to just a few years ago. What about Labour’s relative polling today, compared to just a few years ago? And if there is a difference in shift, where did the difference go – into the undecideds?
I’m in a real rush, CV. Almost out the door. But I’ll reply directly to your questions in Open Mike at some point in the next few days. Absolutely promise – because, at the same time, I want to deal with arguments by our much-loved regularTory Troll Chris73 and Bloggers like Farrar and Whaleoil that Labour and Left support was equally over-stated (therefore cancelling out any disadvantage to the Nats) and that the Tories’ dive at the 2011 Election (relative to their polling throughout the previous year) was all down to the Tea-Cup saga.
They’re wrong on both counts. But It’ll take more time than I’ve got at the moment to set-out the figures.
Much appreciated, swordfish.
I’ve replied to you, CV – but seems to be in moderation.
[lprent: avoid the word “troll”. It was being overused. ]
Thought it might do swordfish’s offerings more justice if his second post was part of his initial thread?
swordfish 7
29 May 2014 at 9:25 am
Here’s a few stats to highlight the degree to which support for both National and the Right Bloc was consistently over-stated (month after month) in the run-up to the last 2 elections:
National Monthly Poll Averages 2011
( To read these stats, the Nats averaged 52% in the polls of January 2011 and that was 5 percentage points higher than the proportion they in fact received at the subsequent election )
Jan 52% (+5), Feb 52% (+5), March 52% (+5), April 54% (+7), May 52% (+5), June 53% (+6), July 53% (+6), August 54% (+7), Sept 55% (+8), Oct 54% (+7), Early Nov 52% (+5), Late Nov 51% (+4), 2011 Election: 47%
Nat Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 49% (+4), Feb 52% (+7), March 50% (+5), April 51% (+6), May 52% (+7), June 54% (+9), July 51% (+6), August 49% (+4), Sept 49% (+4), Early/Mid Oct 48% (+3), Late Oct/Early Nov 46% (+1), 2008 Election: 45%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2011
Jan 56% (+3), Feb 55% (+2), March 55% (+2), April 58% (+5), May 56% (+3), June 58% (+5), July 57% (+4), August 57% (+4), Sept 59% (+6), Oct 57% (+4), Early Nov 56% (+3), Late Nov 55% (+2), 2011 Election: 53%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 52% (=), Feb 56% (+4), March 54% (+2), April 55% (+3), May 56% (+4), June 58% (+6), July 55% (+3), August 54% (+2), Sept 54% (+2), Early/Mid Oct 53% (+1), Late Oct/Early Nov 52% (=), 2008 Election: 52%
In January this year, National were averaging 7 points below their 2011 Jan average, in February 3 below, in March 6 below, in April 8 below and in May 3 below. The Right Bloc in January 2014 were averaging 7 below their 2011 January average, 2 below in Feb, 5 below in March, 9 below in April and 4 below in May.
The gaps are even greater if you compare the same point in the electoral cycle (4 months out, 6 months out, 8 months out etc – given that the elections of 08 and 11 took place in Nov rather than Sept – so comparing, for example, the May 2014 stats with the July 08 and 11 stats).
Brilliant Sword. And all these polls are before the campaign.
Cunliffe smart, Key looking tired. There will be no mistakes like not putting the leader on the billboards this time.
And the Left will have the IMP as a coalition partner. 33+11+5 or 33+12+4 seals the deal.
Here is an opportunity to vent your anger at Nationals # 2 snake oil salesman. The loud hailer battery will be fully charged for those that have a decent rant ready to rip.
Let the cabinet club present know that a recent poll showed over 60% of of Kiwi’s agree that they think that the National Party’s political donation structure is cronie capitalism!
Steve Joyce is addressing invited guests at 12:30 Friday May 30th 2014
at the ASB area of the Kensington Park Stadium.
If you have some issues you would like to draw to his attention this is an opportunity
to bring a banner, placard, leaflets to politely inform his luncheon guests of your misgivings of National Party Policies.
These may include their policies toward:
GMOs,
treaty issues, the continuing theft of Maori land
toxic mining,
water quality,
RMA reforms,
preventing local government provide rules to protect us and our environment issues.
And any other issue that gets on your goat.
from predatory investors,
TPPA,
charter schools, publicly funded ‘schools for profit’ with little or no oversight,
climate change denial and lack of response to protect dirty industry,
These are only suggestions I am sure there are many others.
Please Note: To those activists that have managed to infiltrate this political donations junket you are advised not to indulge in the feast on offer.
That is if you don’t want to risk the unpleasant experience of the sudden onset of explosive diarrhea. Just remember Stephen Joyce will be spraying enough verbal diarrhea that in itself is enough to make you vomit. So my advice is don’t subject yourself to a double dose!
Notice that Joyce seldom looks directly at those to whom he is speaking. Modestly eyes downcast. How sweet and demure. But the other day during QT as soon as Joyce began one of his long tedious answers Brownlie sitting beside him struggled and struggled to suppress a yawn. And failed!
Ha ha Gerry probably had too many pork pies for lunch and needed a nanny nap, mind you he has heard the ‘same old Joyce snake oil’ day in, day out. I loved Joyce’s interview on the Nation the other week where he was quite hysterical attacking Labour’s new monetary policy.
The jealousy of envy was very evident.
He fell asleep today – briefly. Then one eye opened and that was followed by the other…
fascinating.
What a disgrace to the hard working wood work teachers out there. Gerry being a former of that profession. If you and I openly fell asleep on the job we would rightfully expect a strum up, to think the tax payer is paying for lard arse Gerry to nod off. At least I’m being productive for the taxpayer lol.
Morning Report (give them a high-five) did a short piece on Maya Angelou USA poet, a black woman with verve and style and experiences that have destroyed others. She put it together and made a mountain. And she came down from it to write poetry and become an academic and many other things. I couldn’t see an audio link but here is youtube.
Here is one for women and men who appreciate them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEz6BsYP5vc
@ warbler..i found this earlier this morn..
http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/may/28/maya-angelou-a-life-in-pictures
Thanks phil. I know nussing. How can I have never heard of this woman or seen her work before I ask myself. So more is better, ta.
here ya go warbler..
..my maya angelou archives go back to 2008..
..and there is some good stuff in there..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=maya+angelou
I read “I know why the caged bird sings” many many years ago and it was a watershed moment. her voice is fabulous, so hearing her read her own works is a fullsome experience.
Here’s a few stats to highlight the degree to which support for both National and the Right Bloc was consistently over-stated (month after month) in the run-up to the last 2 elections:
National Monthly Poll Averages 2011
( To read these stats, the Nats averaged 52% in the polls of January 2011 and that was 5 percentage points higher than the proportion they in fact received at the subsequent election )
Jan 52% (+5), Feb 52% (+5), March 52% (+5), April 54% (+7), May 52% (+5), June 53% (+6), July 53% (+6), August 54% (+7), Sept 55% (+8), Oct 54% (+7), Early Nov 52% (+5), Late Nov 51% (+4), 2011 Election: 47%
Nat Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 49% (+4), Feb 52% (+7), March 50% (+5), April 51% (+6), May 52% (+7), June 54% (+9), July 51% (+6), August 49% (+4), Sept 49% (+4), Early/Mid Oct 48% (+3), Late Oct/Early Nov 46% (+1), 2008 Election: 45%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2011
Jan 56% (+3), Feb 55% (+2), March 55% (+2), April 58% (+5), May 56% (+3), June 58% (+5), July 57% (+4), August 57% (+4), Sept 59% (+6), Oct 57% (+4), Early Nov 56% (+3), Late Nov 55% (+2), 2011 Election: 53%
Right Bloc Monthly Poll Averages 2008
Jan 52% (=), Feb 56% (+4), March 54% (+2), April 55% (+3), May 56% (+4), June 58% (+6), July 55% (+3), August 54% (+2), Sept 54% (+2), Early/Mid Oct 53% (+1), Late Oct/Early Nov 52% (=), 2008 Election: 52%
In January this year, National were averaging 7 points below their 2011 Jan average, in February 3 below, in March 6 below, in April 8 below and in May 3 below. The Right Bloc in January 2014 were averaging 7 below their 2011 January average, 2 below in Feb, 5 below in March, 9 below in April and 4 below in May.
The gaps are even greater if you compare the same point in the electoral cycle (4 months out, 6 months out, 8 months out etc – given that the elections of 08 and 11 took place in Nov rather than Sept – so comparing, for example, the May 2014 stats with the July 08 and 11 stats).
Gerry Brownlee, Controller of Christchurch. Done the expected poor job for the people in general, (expected by me and damn I am right, when it would be better to be wrong and eat humble pie.) Have some specific people received good outcomes? A small number. But you would never know the extent of his failure when listening to him.
He is an incredible politician, with the smooth delivery of half-truths, lies and promises that NACT specialises in. Not credible. I dub Brownlee The Incredible Hulk. No doubt this is not an original idea.
At best Brownlie is trying to prevent panic.
At worst he is trying to cover over the huge cracks.
We should have a week where all politicians cannot open their mouths unless what they are about to say can be supported by fact.
Great idea.
the silence would be heavenly.
Gerry would still come across as an Incredible Sulk anyway.
There is another word that rhymes with that but I am not bringing physical appearance into the debate. Poor attitudinal characteristics relevant for statesmanship are another matter and need to be pointed out.
cartman writ large…
(i do like ‘the incredible sulk’ tho’..)
‘don’t make me angsty, you wouldn’t like me when i’m angsty’
“An Anglican pastor has quit the church and is taking his congregation with him after the governing body moved ahead with plans to bless same-sex relationships.”
Wonder if a follow-up will show whether the congregation did follow him in significant numbers? Times are a-changing Vicar. Keep up lad.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11263531
the slimy little turd gluon espiner mentioned left wing about fifity times this morning on the right wing radio show with his other sad little righty mate. if he does it again I think I am going to upchuck about fifty weetbix!
“..How Psychedelics Are Saving Lives:
Numerous studies show these substances are non-neurotoxic – non-addictive –
and are having profound effects curing some of the most stubborn mental health disorders –
by helping people purge bottled up trauma..”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38626.htm
Lolz Phillip, i can attest to a certain extent to the non-addictive nature of psychedelic substances, there’s a world of pain tho in the ”expression” of bottled up trauma, especially if expressed in a public place,
Such pain is unfortunately not necessarily confined to those who are with the help of pyschedelic’s doing the ”expressing” it tends to also extend to the ”audience”…
during ‘the acid days’ i lived in a block of four terrace houses in darlinghurst.. that was a squat..
..and darlinghurst was inner-city slum then..so lots of alkies..
..and there was this other member of the squat..who was an awol airforce guy..
..and he had dropped a trip and walked away from the airforce..and had become an acid-missionary..
..and he took it upon himself to ‘cure’ the local alkies.
..(having been an alkie himself while in the airforce..).
..by giving them trips..
..so you’d come home to find smelly alkies cluttering the place up…
..grinning manically at you..
..(there was nil follow-up..so i dunno if it worked for them..
..but since then it has been proven to help many alkies..
..so i live in hope..)
The next time someone drops a psychedelic and thinks they can fly, please do yourself a favour and take off from the ground and not the top of a multi storey car park.
“The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” – Douglas Adams
he must have been dreaming…this is possible in the dream world where one can defy gravity and survive..ie wake up…also there is a theory that everyday things can be solved in the dream world …but how to remember ?
Lolz, like i, the US military knows quite a bit about the use of pyschedelics but will never tell, like for instance the ability for those subjected to X amounts of the substance over X period of time to have an ability to look straight through walls, even those constructed of concrete, and tell what a person on the other side of it is wearing…
you get a special retro-drug-cliche award for that one..allen..
Didn’t say it was an original, but I’ll take the award, just as long as I don’t have to share it like lorde.
The Peter Lyons article below from the Herald today is excellent.
It is probably misleading in one aspect where he quotes wage growth at 14% and inflation at 10% during the term of this government. Though these figures may well be right but from various media reports I have read it would seem the bulk of the pay rises have gone to the better off leaving the bottom 50% with wages not keeping up with inflation. (I don’t have stats but would love to see some).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11263462
Peter Lyons is very good; underrated. He relates economics to everyday life and to other themes in a way few can. Reminds me of Bruce Jesson.
This is another example: http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/298191/corporate-obfuscation-cannot-hide-truth
Column in the odt a few weeks back on how the inhumanity and downright unreasonableness of redundancy processes are flannelled in management speak to reduce people to disposable units.
+1 Ergo
Radionz item on putting on weight – strange that it has happened in last 30 years. There is a graphic on their site with two parents both overblown. It looks as if they are out doing what the government wants them to do – consumer spending.
The item says that NZ men have put on weight the fastest in their measurements – from OECD. Yeah we win again.
We could come up with pub games where men rush their stomachs at each other and see how far they can bounce the other outside a circle. That would make a change from tossing dwarfs.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/245744/obesity-among-nz-men-grows-fastest-in-world
And this is how the message ran, good afternoon 2011 Green party voters, the InternetMana alliance thanks you for the big ups, but, if you voted Green in 2011 it is best to stick with voting Green again in 2014,
There are ”other” rich sources of sourcing votes that the InternetMana alliance are excellently positioned to take full advantage of, including:
The fast failing Maori Party, party and electorate vote,
The tactical voters who did not vote Green last time round,
The missing million, the vast bulk of whom are registered but did not vote in 2011…
From Martyn Bradbury
“Why making the election a Public Holiday would lift voting numbers.
…The fact we are one of the few democracies that can change power minus violence and intimidation should be a source of celebration and deep pride……I think that standing in line with your fellow citizens to vote is a necessary part of the engagement process and online voting doesn’t create that. Selfies proclaiming that people have voted will be a great means of building awareness, but it can’t replace the real social element of sharing the same physical space peacefully with people who have the opposite agenda that you do.
Apart from the ease with which online voting can be hacked, the physical space sharing social interaction is a crucial democratic engagement.
I think the reason our election should also be a public holiday is based on that shared social experience.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/29/why-making-the-election-a-public-holiday-would-lift-voting-numbers/
What “physical space sharing social interaction” are you talking about?
The one you don’t get while online voting and receiving an LED tan in front of your computer screen home alone.
Don’t get one going to a voting booth either.
On the same subject, voting that is of the compulsory type, there appears to be a conference going on today in Wellington where the discussion has turned to that very topic, compulsory voting,
A professor, visiting i think from Ireland has said that if we want to have more of those able to participating then we should at least try compulsory voting,
Judith Collins Pfft, quoted on the same subject by RadioNZ National said that Compulsory Voting would ”be less democratic”,(that begs the question that compulsory enrollment to vote must really kneecap the democratic process right),
Bomber might be on to something there with the holiday idea, couple a day off with a compulsion to vote as the reward and we might get a far better turnout than the present…
A public holiday, or half a working days holiday to anyone working on the day
Nah CV, why should those who are forced to work holidays be punished, a day in lieu would fix that and they could take their holiday on a day that the whole capitalist world wouldn’t collapse because of their absence,(being also allowed to cast a special vote as well would help)…
Flavell now in the Parliament is trying to get the Maori Party votes reversed and the Bill moved to a second reading,
There is no objection and Jerry Brownlee has risen to grovel about Nationals fraudulent use of the Maori Party votes…
but English will exercise veto anyway?
Yeah Tracey, to a certain extent what’s occurring is a ”beltway game” but for us political junkies and those interested enough to be taking even a minor interest what has occurred is quite enlightening,
Take Sharples for instance, Tory Lapdog or Rangatira???, it appears from the unfolding story that all it takes for Sharples to shed any vestiges of Mana and Rangatiratanga that He may or may not have previously possessed is for a couple of the Massah Bosses in the form of Tory MP’s/Minsters to bail Him up in a Parliamentary corridor and put the hard word on Him,
The last vestiges of the Maori Party voting base should take note,
National of course are desperate to delay this Bill until the House rises for the election, there’s miles of Bad Bad publicity inherent in English having to use His veto to trash the extra paid parental leave that the Bill contains,
National largely ”got away with” failing to impose its version of ”resource heaven” when it found that it couldn’t force through Legislation to impose its desired changes, simply because the toothless media hardly gave the situation a mention,
Lolz, Grant Robertson, in a loaded question posed to Gerry Brownlee in the House this afternoon enquired whether National intended to pass some more employment Legislation befor the House rises, methinks Grant believes National will not have the numbers to pass the intended Legislation either, the subtleties of this which seemed to fly straight over Brownlees head,
What such ”beltway games” expose where National hasn’t the numbers to pass its Legislative agenda into Law is simply a Government that is a lame-duck…
You dont think sharples was trying to correct the problem and find out why national had cast the votes against?
It’s one possibility Tracey, but, from what’s i can gather, after the ”words” were had last night in the corridor, Sharples done a runner,
He could have walked into the Chamber and simply made the Maori Party position plain by yelling ”Point of Order Mr Speaker”…
Fair point. I dont understand why, if sharples was in the chamber, he didnt have flavell’s proxy?
i didn’t see the parliament in session last night Tracey, aging from what i can gather Sharples wasn’t in the chamber for the vote, the fact that the Tory MP’s managed to bail Him up in the corridor would suggest tho that He wasn’t far away,
From one angled perception it could be suggested that Sharples deliberately let what occurred occur but there is not the slightest shred of evidence to suggest this, so i definitely wont be suggesting that Lol,
Obviously something lead the desperate National Government to believe it could kill Maroney’s Bill by voting the Maori Party proxies the wrong way, what it was we may never know, but, don’t believe for a moment that things within the Maori Party are all sweetness and light…
As an afterthought Tracey, Flavell should have stood in the Parliament today and waved the Maori Party/National Party coalition in the air and invited them to instruct the speaker to amend last nights vote,
He obviously has no eye for the theatrical and even less idea of the growing elephant in the room in the form of Annette Sykes growing support back home in the Waiariki electorate,
Flavell in effect begging the Speaker to alter what was something of National’s making simply makes Him look weak…
Can anyone clarify the following for me?
Since 2012, if an employee agrees, for a new position, the employer can offer a package and make its contribution inclusive of the gross salary if the employee agrees and joins kiwisaver?
If yes, for many lower skilled folks they are effectively agreeing to pay their kiwisaver contrib and the employers?
My advice make sure your a member of a Union, especially if your a low paid worker, do it on the down low if your afraid of that dirty 90 day trial law. Go to the CTU website for the right advice.
No union option. No 90 day caluse.
It seems the nacts have eroded this part of employment law, to save employers money and dissuade people from kiwisaver.
Yes.
Yes, many employees will be lumping the employer share of kiwisaver.
Note that this does not apply to those on minimum wage, because minimum means minimum. For people earning the minimum, if they choose to join KS, their employer must pay the employer contribution in addition to their wage.
Of course @ minimum wage. Thanks lanth. So the nats halved the govt incentive and kind of screwe a heap of others…
I think it is illegal. I’m pretty sure this has been tested in the courts. It is illegal for employers to demand that employees pay both contributions.
Currently it is legal the nats changed the law making it permissible. Which a number of ratbag employers did. The court case taken by a union in the aged care sector I think argued that for those on or close to minimum wage were in reality been paid less than the legal minimum happily they were successful. On the downside the employer s then counted this as a ‘payrise’ meaning getting an award the next year is much harder.
so no news yet about the radical restructuring of the winz acts to incorporate welfare reform by stealth.
wake up yo!
Do you have some info? I understood they were still writing the new legislation and had not released any details yet, so there is nothing to discuss but the knowledge they are writing the new legislation.
& that is a very short and very depressing conversation 🙂
john kerry telling edward snowden to go back to the usa… The drones not located him yet???
New minimum ‘pay rate award’. A week can cover a fortnight. So you ‘work’ 20 hours one week, then 60 hours the next, and get paid 40 hours for both.
Maybe an employer can get you to work 120 hours one week, then drip-feed you your pay over the next couple of weeks. How soon before this flows on to the rest of the economy?
Imagine some of the more onerous and dangerous jobs being treated like this? Sooner or later something would have to give, and perhaps someone might be killed? Who then would be at fault? The employer, the employee, or the Government?
Imagine also the disruption to families.
On a separate note, Nick Smith has cancelled the Fiordland Monorail. Lets see what happens after the election!
farrar and joe bennett talking absolute lying-shite about harre/int/mana..on panel..
..(even mora seems embarrassed by the relentless negativity..)
..i wonder if farrar was long-scheduled for today..?
..or if he was rushed in at the last minute..?
..and i never realised what a braying ignorant fucken fool bennet is..
i would suggest tho Phillip, that anyone listening to that pile of defecation from the evil baby look-a-like is either firmly in the fuck-you-Farrer camp or highly unlikely to vote InternetMana anyway,
I keep saying this to the ‘wing-nuts’, as far as the InternetMana alliance goes, its a science fiction double feature, the ‘Wing-nuts’ attempts at disparagement are far far to late, Doctor X has already built the creature…
the big lie they all told was that the alliance-lite deal dissolves six weeks after the election..
..this is total bullshit..
..there is a scheduled meeting six weeks after the election to work out how best to work together in parliament..
..not an automatic dissolution..
..(i am surprised mora didn’t call them out on that clear error of fact..didn’t he know..?..)
..an error repeated/laughed at multiple times/ways..
..and the more i think about it..the more i want to know if farrar was actually scheduled for today..
..or if he was rushed in to spin..
..and he is doing a brilliant effort at filling up all the time with his words..controlling the message..
..joe bennet got about 20% of the allocated time..
..(and i agree the creature is already built..
..but you still have to be vigilant..
..to call out the lies..)
Another laugh out loud coincidence???, the movie moguls from five of the Hollywood big studios had their legal eagles in the High Court at Auckland today arguing the toss trying to stop Dotcom getting His seized assets back,
i had the thought again, way too late children, Dotcom has already cashed up the InternetMana alliance so even if they could extract Him from the country befor the election, Slippery the Prime Minister will still be getting the Dotcom gift that just doesn’t stop giving, in Slippery’s case brain damage…
laila harre is doing an excellent interview with mary wilson…
..just excellent..
What chance Peter Dunne and Colin Craig look to stitch up something similar to Internet Mana?
Would make sense Dunne’s seat plus Colin’s 3%
Conservative Future anyone?
And that’s what’s lurking at the bottom of Pandora’s box now the $3m man and Hone have opened it.
Say goodbye to that coveted 3 seat gain as you blow kisses to the moral high ground.
Gower has gone off the deep end…
http://www.3news.co.nz/Opinion-Hone-and-Dotcoms-grubby-deal/tabid/1382/articleID/346334/Default.aspx
Biased Bile from Paddy Gower! Hypocrite he is! Where was his anger for Banks or Hyde or Pete?
Did you look at the comments? Not a lot of people seem to agree with him.
I’ve noticed that with the tv3 news website in general. Fairly left leaning commentary in the majority has been my impression.
Not like Stuff which is very much the opposite.
Just did and wow! Paddy lost it in his ‘opinion piece’ – and those comments really lay into him. Some of them excellent analysis – not in his favour. Is the revolution about to happen?
PS – according to Paddy’s twitter feed, he went on leave last night;; long weekend in his home town, New Plymouth ? And suddenly this ‘contribution’.
lol, Poor wee Gower sounds like he is having a wee …er Paddy…
My response to Paddy’s hyperventilating:
Where was your passion when the National government ignored changing the MMP rules when they had a chance? Why didn’t they do that? This couldn’t have occurred if they had taken on board the recommendations.
Oh wait! I believe the answer is contained in his article ‘Never, ever was it envisaged they would be used as a back-door entry for a German millionaire to get his proxy into Parliament.‘
…wow! and that sounds like a pretty racist comment, there Paddy – what do you mean by that? – that it is o.k for NZ millionaires to rort the system? – is it just that you don’t want German born ones to do the rorting? Or is it more a thing about what political persuasion is involved when rorting of the system occurs?
Pretty easy fix to this one. The next government who gets in needs to tighten the MMP rules. Political parties, which of you are going to do that? [Did Labour already mention they would redress that? (not sure)]
Inclusive Capitalism Initiative is Trojan Horse to quell coming global revolt
Which is, of course, what needs to happen.
OPENING SPEECH IN THE FIRST READING DEBATE OF THE FEED THE KIDS BILL
Hone Harawira – MANA Leader and Te Tai Tokerau Member of Parliament
Wednesday 28 May 2014
Tēnā koe Mr Speaker
Mr Speaker, I move that the Education (Breakfast and Lunch Programmes in Schools) Amendment Bill be now read a first time.
I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the bill.
Mr Speaker, Nelson Mandela once said that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” and if I could add a comment, it would be “and blaming those too vulnerable to care for themselves and their children, speaks more about our selfishness than it does about the hopelessness of poverty.”
Mr Speaker, back in April last year I was part of a big MANA Feed the Kids gig where we fed more than 1,500 kids up in Otara. They had heaps of fun and when they left they all took a lunch away, happily chanting “Feed the Kids”, and I thought to myself – these kids get it, their whanau get it, their teachers get it, and I sincerely hope enough of us get it too, because Treasury itself has told us there are now 285,000 kids living in poverty in Aotearoa, 100,000 of whom go to school hungry every day.
Yes, it’s nice to know that KidsCan feeds some 10,000 of them most days and that the KickStart programme feeds about 12,000 a day, but the reality is that even with government’s announcement in last year’s Budget, nearly 80,000 children are still going to school hungry in Aotearoa, every single day.
And yes, schools around the country have started their own breakfast clubs with support from teachers, students, parents, local businesses and the wider community – but they tell us that it takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of goodwill to keep it going, and that having secure funding would be a godsend.
And the really embarrassing thing is that nearly every country in the OECD, apart from us, already runs programmes to feed kids at school.
Some, like Finland and Sweden provide fully state-funded meals to every school student as part of a wider framework of child wellbeing – a commitment that sees them regularly top the international surveys in child health and educational achievement.
Some provide free meals to kids with parents on low incomes and others provide free meals to schools in areas of high deprivation, but while the approaches differ, they all share the same view – backed up by the same kind of research and information from teachers, doctors, nurses and policy analysts, that is available to us here – that kids need a good feed every day if they are to develop into healthy, and well educated adults.
Mr Speaker, New Zealand really needs to join the rest of the enlightened world and make a commitment to feeding our kids, starting with those in greatest need, to help them to grow well and learn well.
Groups like the Child Poverty Action Group have long advocated for government-funded food in schools programmes as a simple and cheap step to reducing poverty.
The report of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, released a year and a half ago now, did not recommend throwing in a few dollars only if the corporates gave some as this government has proposed – no – they recommended that “government should develop and implement a government-funded food in schools programme” and that “government has a responsibility to provide leadership and resources, to assist schools through a national strategy for food in Early Childhood Centres and schools in low decile neighbourhoods.”
Mr Speaker – I have been humbled by the positive responses to MANA’s Feed the Kids Bill from a whole host of child, family, health, education, and faith organisations all around the country, who helped raise awareness about just how many of our kids are going to school hungry in Aotearoa, and what we should be doing about it.
They have worked hard to remind us all that the crisis of child hunger and its devastating effects on brain development, health and learning means we need to urgently focus on feeding the kids rather than blaming the parents; that poverty has doubled in the last 25 years and children are its greatest victim; and that poverty won’t go away without big changes in employment, wages, housing and support for families in need.
Mr Speaker – things have changed a lot from when everyone was scoffing at MANA for even talking about Feeding the Kids during Election 2011, to a TV poll last year that showed 70% of Kiwis support a government-funded food in schools programme; and to food in schools being the only policy issue to make the top 10 news stories in 2013.
And much of that awareness has come about as a result of the excellent work and commitment of the Community Coalition for Food in Schools – which now has 30 members – and in particular, the efforts of Deborah Morris-Travers, former CEO of Every Child Counts and now Advocacy Manager for UNICEF NZ.
Mr Speaker, the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group said that child poverty doesn’t just impact on children and their families – it costs all of us, a lot. In fact, it’s estimated that child poverty costs New Zealanders $6-8 billion a year – in health, justice system costs, and in lost productivity and a lower tax take – and yet we continue to be one of the worst performers in the OECD on child wellbeing.
Our rates of preventable diseases like rheumatic fever are high, we have lower educational achievement than in other developed countries, and yet we’ll happily spend nearly $1.5 billion a year on prisons to feed one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Unemployment is the highest it’s been for nearly 15 years, nearly half of all young Māori and PI are without work and are not in education or training, and the other half are getting ready to go to Aussie.
Feeding the Kids won’t solve all these problems – but it is real, it is affordable, it is something we can do right now, and we know that it will help our kids grow up to be better, healthier contributors to society.
We’ve costed the Bill to allow for a co-ordinator in each school to oversee the provision of breakfast and lunch in all decile 1-2 schools in Aotearoa; feeding more than 100,000 kids in our poorest communities; and using existing programmes like KidsCan and KickStart or working through other local initiatives.
With very few exceptions schools have supported the Feed the Kids kaupapa because they know they’ll get more bang for their educational buck – kids will turn up to school on time, they’ll be settled and not disruptive, and they’ll be ready to learn.
And while I’m at it I’d also like to thank all the secondary and tertiary students who backed this bill, because when young people say that hunger is their number one priority, and that food in schools is the best solution to it, then that says it all.
Mr Speaker – I know the bill isn’t perfect; I hear the korero about feeding the kids being a parent’s responsibility, but the truth is that a lot of people have been so poor, for so long, that they struggle to make the right choices and often end up making the wrong ones. And all the while our kids go hungry …
And I’ve heard a lot about increasing employment opportunities, and upgrading housing, and improving access to health and developing better educational pathways … and all of that is necessary and good, but it takes a long time to happen. And all the while our kids go hungry …
And every other proposal I’ve heard from the Child Poverty Action Group, the Children’s Commissioner, health promotion agencies and advisory groups all the way up to the World Health Organisation’s Report on Child Health, makes a lot of sense to me.
But all I want to do with this bill is make sure that as we work through all these other critical and important initiatives, our kids are getting fed.
Mr Speaker – I welcome the calls to extend the Bill to include the Kohanga and ECE sector and decile 3-4 schools, and to allow those involved in school and community gardens to make a contribution to this discussion too, because this is an exercise that will require the efforts of the whole community, and I urge the House to vote this bill through at first reading so that the Maori Affairs select committee can call for submissions from those who know best, and those who care most, in order that we can develop a robust food-in-schools programme that enhances the well-being of our children, and enhances the future prospects of our society.
All that stands between this bill going to its second reading, where it will receive proper debate and the full consideration, of parliament is the single vote of that scum Peter Dunne.
Just for this filthy act, every effort needs to be made, to ensure that Peter Dunne should not be returned to parliament as being morally and intellectually unfit for high office.