Open Mike 29/05/2017

27 comments on “Open Mike 29/05/2017 ”

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1. bwaghorn 1

   29 May 2017 at 6:41 am

   Little will loss the election if he says he is going to repeal the tax cuts. how dumb are labour people
   • Muttonbird 1.1

     29 May 2017 at 6:56 am

     Has he not said Labour will announce an alternative policy Presimably once they’ve looked at the books properly?

     I was hoping for this at actual budget time but for some reason it didn’t happen.
     • Muttonbird 1.1.1

       29 May 2017 at 1:15 pm

       For the time being, in explanation of the silence from Labour on what their 2017 budget would look like, I’m going to go with; they are waiting until the effect of their alternative and progressive policy statements will have more impact, and that is during the election campaign proper.

       Here’s hoping anyway.
2. Wayne 2

   29 May 2017 at 8:17 am

   The UK election is starting to look like as I predicted on April 26. The Conservatives with a majority of around 50, but probably not 100. the Conservatives picking up a few in Scotland. Labour not doing so badly as early polls indicated, with around 200 seats. A bit of an increase for the LibDems.

   We will know in a week.

   Incidentally Little will not be able to repeal the tax cuts if Labour forms the next government. Winston won’t let him.
   • Craig H 2.1

     29 May 2017 at 1:31 pm

     Nor the Greens, one suspects. I don’t think there’s any intention to reverse the tax threshold adjustments anyway – Labour’s complaints are more in other areas of the budget than that specific policy.
   • One Anonymous Bloke 2.2

     31 May 2017 at 3:47 pm

     Keep telling yourselves that.
3. heman 3

   29 May 2017 at 9:52 am

   National selling public reserves and kids playing fields to solve the housing crisis. god what next?

   https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/05/28/30765/no-easy-answer-in-pt-england-land-tussle
   • saveNZ 3.1

     29 May 2017 at 11:13 am

     @Heman – Shocking.
     • saveNZ 3.1.1

       29 May 2017 at 11:16 am

       Who cares about kids, community and endangered birds when there is money to be made. sarc.
       • greywarshark 3.1.1.1

         29 May 2017 at 12:28 pm

         When there is an obvious hole in the dyke, using the Dutch tale of commitment to the good of the country as an example. Create a crisis and do all the things no-one would ever let you near in normal times. That’s the devious, dissolute, dishonest National way.
4. WILD KATIPO 4

   29 May 2017 at 10:03 am

   I agree with Robert Guyton regarding you , SIGH .

   I would hazard a guess you are the latest edition from the young Nats to attempt a trolling diversion on this site. The fact is, despite Gower and the rest of these neo liberal lackeys , – there are some within the MSM who HAVE INDEED reported on the hypocrisy and subversive activity’s of the National party core, – we have no need to mention the extremely long list of social , anti democratic and outright dictatorial abuses of this govt.

   Have you ever acquainted yourself with the long list of lies provided by BLIP of John Key , – carried over by the second rate leadership of Bill English?

   No ?

   Well here it is then.

   01 – I promise to always be honest

   02 – We’re not proposing to change the Employment Relations Act in a way that weakens unions

   03 – we are not going to sack public servants, the attrition rate will reduce costs

   04 – we are not going to cut working for families

   05 – I firmly believe in climate change and always have

   06 – We seek a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s carbon-equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by 2050. 50 by 50. We will write the target into law.

   07 – National Ltd™ will provide a consistent incentive for both biofuel and biodiesel by exempting them from excise tax or road user charges

   08 – I didn’t know about The Bretheren election tactics

   09 – If they came to us now with that proposal [re trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods regime], we will sign it

   10 – I can’t remember my position on the 1981 Springbok Tour

   11 – Tranzrail shares

   12 – I did not mislead the House (1)

   13 – Lord Ashcroft

   14 – National Ltd™ would not have sent troops into Iraq

   15 – Standard & Poors credit downgrade

   16 – the double-down grade doesn’t really matter and its only about private sector debt

   17 – I did not mislead the House (2)

   18 – I didn’t say I want wages to drop

   19 – the real rate of inflation is 3.3 percent.

   20 – the tourism sector has not lost 7,000 jobs

   21 – no I have never heard of Whitechapel

   22 – I won’t raise GST

   23 – people who are on the average wage and have a child are $48 a week better off after the rise in GST

   24 – the purchase of farmland, by overseas buyers will be limited to ten farms per purchase

   25 – the Pike River Mine was consented to under a Labour Government

   26 – no promises were made to get the remains of the miners out of the Pike River mine

   27 – I did not provide a view on the safety of the Pike River coalmine

   28 – I did not mislead the House (3)

   29 – capping, not cutting the public service

   30 – raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour will cost 6000 jobs

   31 – north of $50 a week

   32 – privatisation won’t significantly help the economy

   33 – wave goodbye to higher taxes , not your loved ones

   34 – I never offered Brash a diplomatic job in London

   35 – Tariana Turia is “totally fine” with the Tuhoe Treaty Claim deal

   36 – Kiwisaver

   37 – National Ltd™ is not going to radically reorganise the structure of the public sector

   38 – tax cuts won’t require additional borrowing

   39 – New Zealand does not have a debt problem

   40 – New Zealand troops in Afghanistan will only be involved in training, not fighting

   41 – the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has closed under my National Ltd™ government

   42 – It took 9 years for Labour to make a complete and utter mess of the economy

   43 – National Ltd™ has changed the Overseas Investment Act to include 19 different criteria

   44 – the price of goods and services has risen by 6 per cent since the last election, while the has actually gone up by 16 per cent

   45 – no, although its a week ago and here I am being interviewed on television about them, I havn’t seen Gerry Brownlee’s comments regarding demolitions in Christchurch and which caused such outrage, but I can talk all about them

   46 – our SAS soldiers were not involved in the Kabul Hotel gunfight

   47 – the use of the Vela brother’s helicopter was required so I could attend meetings relating to national/international security concerns

   48 – the DPS makes the decision about accompanying the Prime Minister or not, I had no choice but to take them on holiday to Hawaii

   49 – I did not mislead the House (4)

   50 – oh, maybe our SAS soldiers were in the Kabul hotel gun fight but they weren’t wounded by friendly fire

   51 – New Zealand has lost $12 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . oh, it might actually be around $15 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . Blinglish said what?

   52 – 10,000 houses will have to be demolished in Christchurch due to the earthquake

   53 – 14,000 new apprentices will start training over the next five years, over and above the number previously forecast

   54 – Our amendments to the ETS ensure we will continue to do our fair share internationally

   55 – we are committed to honouring our Kyoto Protocol obligations

   56 – any changes to the ETS will be fiscally neutral

   57 – we [NZ] have grown for eight of the last nine quarters”

   58 – National Ltd™ will tender out the government banking contract

   59 – we will be back in surplus by 2014-15

   60 – Nicky Hager’s book “Other People’s Wars” is a work of fiction

   61 – unemployment is starting to fall

   62 – we have created 60,000 jobs

   63 – we have created 45,000 jobs

   64 – the 2011 Budget will create in the order of 170,000 jobs

   65 – I don’t know if I own a vineyard

   66 – no, I did not mislead the House (5)

   67 – the Isreali spy killed in the Christchurch quake had “only one” passport

   68 – the Police will not need to make savings by losing jobs

   69 – GCSB re Kim Dotcom x 3 (that we know about)

   70 – I did not mislead the House (6)

   71 – I voted to keep the drinking age at 20

   72 – New Zealand is 100% Pure

   73 – I’ve been prime minister for four years, and it’s really 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year

   74 – baseball in New Zealand is attracting more government support

   75 – the decision to buy brand new BMWs was made by the Department of Internal Affairs without reference either to their minister or to me

   76 – I didn’t have a clue that Ministerial Services, which I am in charge of, was going to buy brand new BMWs

   77 – even though two of my ministers knew all about it, I didn’t have a clue that brand new BMWs were being bought.

   78 – even though my Chief of Staff met with officials to discuss purchase of the the brand new BMWs, I didn’t have a clue

   79 – Labour forced us into buying the brand new BMWs, its their fault

   80 – ummm, look, sorry about that BMW thing , it was because I was so upset about the death of a New Zealand soldier and Julia Gillard was visit too

   81 – the public demanded that we change the labour laws for The Hobbit

   82 – “The Hobbit” created 3000 new jobs

   83 – we have delivered 800 extra doctors in the public service

   84 – I did not mislead the House (7)

   85 – I wasn’t working at Elders when the sham foreign exchange deals took place

   86 – I was starting School Certificate exams in 1978

   87 – I don’t know who arrived on the CIA jet to visit the spies I am responsible for

   88 – reducing barriers to property developers will increase the availability of affordable housing

   89 – Labour left the economy in poor shape

   90 – forecasts show unemployment will fall

   91 – we have closed the wage gap with Australia by $27

   92 – Ngati Porou and Whanau Apanui are not opposed to mining

   93 – I have not had any meetings with Media Works

   94 – our [NZ’s] terms of trade remain high

   95 – the TPP is an example of democracy

   96 – National Ltd™ will use the proceeds of state asset sales to invest in other public assets, like schools and hospitals

   97 – New Zealand troops will be out of Afghanistan by April 2013

   98 – overseas investment in New Zealand adds to what New Zealanders can invest on their own

   99 – overseas investment in New Zealand creates jobs, boosts incomes, and helps the economy grow

   100 – National Ltd™ will build 2000 houses over the next two years

   101 – there are only 4 New Zealand SAS soldiers in Bamiyan and all working in the area of logistics and planning only

   102 – selling state assets will give cash equity to those companies

   103 – the Sky City deal doesn’t mean more pokies

   104 – there was nothing improper about the Sky City deal

   105 – my office has had no correspondence, no discussions, no involvement with the Sky City deal

   106 – SkyCity will only get “a few more” pokie machines at the margins

   107 – any changes to gambling regulations will be subject to a full public submission process

   108 – Sky City has approached TVNZ about the purchase/use of government-owned land

   109 – the Auditor General has fully vindicated National over the Sky City deal

   110 – there’s a 50/50 chance the Hobbit is going off shore unless we do something

   111 – David Shearer has signed up for the purchase of shares in Mighty River

   112 – Solid Energy asked the government for a $1 billion capital investment

   113 – fracking has been going safely on in Taranaki for the past 30 years without any issues

   114 – no front line positions will be lost at DoC

   115 – Iain Rennie came to me and recommended Fletcher for the GCSB job

   116 – I forgot that after I scrapped the shortlist for GCSB job I phoned a life-long friend to tell him to apply for the position

   117 – I told Iain Rennie I would contact Fletcher

   118 – for 30 years, or three decades, I didn’t have any dinners or lunches or breakfasts with Ian Fletche

   119 – I did not mislead the House (8)

   120 – No, I did not say we would follow the US and Australia into a war against North Korea

   121 – I paid for that lunch and I’ve got the credit card bill to prove it

   122 – I called directory service to get Ian Fletcher’s number

   123 – I did not mislead the house (9)

   124 – I am honest and upfront

   125 – cyber terrorists have attempted to gain access to information about weapons of mass destruction held on New Zealand computers

   126 – the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was an isolated incident

   127 – New Zealand has an arrangement to have asylum seekers processed in Australian detention camps

   128 – the law which says the GCSB cannot spy on New Zealanders is not clear

   129 – the only way net new jobs can be created is by private investors putting their money into businesses in New Zealand

   130 – an increase in the number of people looking for work indicates that confidence is returning to the economy

   131 – the 10 percent of taxpayers in New Zealand who are the top earners pay 76 percent of all net personal tax.

   132 – I did not mislead the House (10)

   133 – the substantial wage growth under Labour was eroded by inflation

   134 – National Ltd™’s 2010 tax changes were fiscally neutral

   135 I did not mislead the House (11)

   136 – the bulk of New Zealanders earn between $45,000 and $75,000 a year

   137 – Pike River Coal did not put profits and its production ahead of the safety and lives of those 29 workers.

   138 – Radio Live had sought advice from the Electoral Commission about my show just before the election

   139 – it is because of National Ltd™’s policies that the price of fresh fruit and vegetables has dropped.

   140 – the length-of-the-country cycleway will create 4000 jobs.

   141 – police training for next year has not has not been cancelled

   142 – National Ltd™ has only cut back-office jobs in the health service

   143 – The Crown’s dividend stream from the Meridians, the Mighty Rivers of the world is large and there is no motivation to sell assets

   144 – Gross.

   – BLiP

   * And that doesn’t even take into account the latest bullshit from the Double Dipper from Dipton.

   Eh mate.

   [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
   
   • mordecai 4.1

     29 May 2017 at 10:41 am

     You lose all credibility producing that nonsense.
     • WILD KATIPO 4.1.1

       29 May 2017 at 10:55 am

       You’ve already lost credibility countless times here so WTF are you talking about???

       Another one in denial.

       Next please.
       • mordecai 4.1.1.1

         29 May 2017 at 10:58 am

         The list is nonsense. By your definition of ‘lie’ you could compile a similar list for most political leaders, but here’s the thing. Anyone who would have and take the time to compile such a list is likely to have serious delusions, and should be avoided at all costs.
         • james 4.1.1.1.1

           29 May 2017 at 1:47 pm

           “Anyone who would have and take the time to compile such a list is likely to have serious delusions, and should be avoided at all costs.”

           As should anybody who quotes it.
           • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1.1.1

             29 May 2017 at 10:18 pm

             You know, you RWNJs always come out and attack that list but you’ve never actually proved it wrong.
             • mordecai …

               30 May 2017 at 11:07 am

               You’ve missed earlier exchanges then. The list is delusional.
5. saveNZ 5

   29 May 2017 at 10:26 am

   “In September last year it was revealed the City Rail Link’s cost may have increased from $2.5 billion to $3.4 billion. As much as we have strongly supported CRL over the years, and continue to do so, a $900 million cost increase is massive. In some respects it is surprising there hasn’t been more scrutiny of this cost increase, especially given the CRL team didn’t even tell then Len Brown about it. They also seem to waive away the change by saying that we won’t know what the real cost will be till the tenders come in. For a bit of context, $900 million is more than the entire cost of the AMETI project that will construct a massive new busway from Panmure out to Botany.

   While we continue to be strong supporters of CRL, we really do think the project team have made a number of poor decisions as its details have been developed. ”

   https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/05/29/controlling-city-rail-link-costs/
6. joe90 6

   29 May 2017 at 11:48 am

   ISIS with precision guided munitions, wouldn’t that be just fucking peachy.

   .

   However, what was really stunning about the Iranian reaction to Trump’s sword-dancing visit to Saudi Arabia was its outright warning to the Saudi Kingdom.

   Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, a leading member of the Iranian parliament’s Expediency Council, claimed these multi-billion dollar arms sales may ultimately backfire on the Saudi regime. Rafsanjani warned that one day, the Saudis may end up turning these weapons against the Saudi royal family.

   “We have seen it all before. The Saudis are spending billions on arms which they don’t have the capacity to absorb. At the same time they are facing rebellion at home they are trying to hide and a costly war in Yemen,” Rafsanjani said, according to the Independent.

   Drawing a parallel with recent Iranian history, during which the U.S. was very friendly with the Middle Eastern nation while it was under the rule of Shah Reza Pahlavi, a brutal, U.S.-installed dictator, Rasfanjani stated the following:

   “The Shah, too, spent billions of dollars buying arms from America, he too had capacity problems. We had 65,000 Americans in Iran, most of them in the armed forces. But then came the revolution and the weapons were used against him and his regime.

   “We watch what is going on in Saudi Arabia and I think the fate of the Saudi royal family will be the same as that of [the Shah’s dynasty] the Pahlavis. There is less and less space in the world for absolute monarchies like the Saudis”. [emphasis added]

   http://theantimedia.org/iran-honest-reaction-trump-saudi/
   • Bill 6.1

     29 May 2017 at 1:35 pm

     I think there’s a chance they already have quite a few, courtesy of Gadaffi’s raided arms stockpiles. A UK Government Select Committee had a bit to say about manpads that had gone walkies from Libya.
     • joe90 6.1.1

       29 May 2017 at 2:18 pm

       The Obama regime balked at selling them a step up from laser guided systems, probably an anti-jam GPS system that converts dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions. No such reservations from Trump.

       edit: wrong link

       http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudiarabia-arms-idUSKBN17C2N4
7. Cinny 7

   29 May 2017 at 12:25 pm

   Kudos to John Kirwan and Mike King for their moving interview on Breakfast this morning about mental health. A follow up to the story aired on Sunday last night.

   I feel that mental health is a huge issue for our people, and am thankful to these men for speaking out about it.
   • james 7.1

     29 May 2017 at 1:47 pm

     100% agree on that.
     • garibaldi 7.1.1

       29 May 2017 at 3:55 pm

       So what is your lovely Govt going to do about James?
       Put another 10 cents in the kitty and sweep it under the carpet, or just put it in the ‘too hard’ basket as per usual?
     • Ed 7.1.2

       29 May 2017 at 10:08 pm

       Pity you support a government that doesn’t care then.
8. saveNZ 8

   29 May 2017 at 12:35 pm

   You’ve really got to wonder why the government would increase the risk of people getting Hepatitis E from imported pork products, being that HEV can cause serious illness and even death.

   http://thejackalman.blogspot.co.nz/2017/05/lack-of-brexit-virus-coverage.html
   • greywarshark 8.1

     29 May 2017 at 2:43 pm

     Shocking do nothing, don’t care, cover-up National government. What do we pay them all that money for? What a sinecure.

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