Open mike 29/08/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 29th, 2016 - 173 comments
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Step up to the mike …

173 comments on “Open mike 29/08/2016 ”

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  3. Tony P 3
    29 August 2016 at 6:47 am

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/83651875/this-is-why-finland-has-the-best-schools

    “Our mission as adults is to protect our children from politicians,” one Finnish childhood education professor told me. “We also have an ethical and moral responsibility to tell businesspeople to stay out of our building.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 8:24 am

        …all because right wingers hate the freedoms of speech and association: targeting children to attack unions.

      • Puckish Rogue 3.1.2
        29 August 2016 at 10:24 am

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland#Teachers

        Teachers

        Both primary and secondary teachers must have a master’s degree to qualify. Teaching is a respected profession and entrance to university programs is highly competitive. A prospective teacher must have very good grades and must combat fierce opposition in order to become a teacher. Only about 10% of applicants to certain programs are successful. The respect accorded to the profession and the higher salaries than the OECD average lead to higher performing and larger numbers applying for the positions, and this is reflected in the quality of teachers in Finland.

        Imagine the howls from the union if National said teachers would get higher pay but you must have a masters degree to teach

        • I Feel Love 3.1.2.1
          29 August 2016 at 10:38 am

          Bollocks. Most teachers would happily welcome further training for an increased wage, you know nothing about teaching or teachers, much like this recent ODT editorial…

          https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/education-changes-coming

        • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.2.2
          29 August 2016 at 10:39 am

          We don’t have to imagine it, you lying malicious piece of shit.

          In Finland politicians recognise that putting the strategic educational needs of the country before their own party interests produces great results.

          If enough of us ask, New Zealand politicians can do the same.

          PPTA.

          • Puckish Rogue 3.1.2.2.1
            29 August 2016 at 11:17 am

            I have as much faith in the PPTA do whats best for children as I’m sure you do in National

            The PPTA can say what they like but they are for teachers first and everyone else second

            • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.2.2.1.1
              29 August 2016 at 12:31 pm

              Nah, shithead, it took me less than a minute to expose your malicious lie: a blanket statement about “the union”. It’s quite clear from your subsequent comment that you are motivated by hate.

              It defines you. Choke on it.

              • Puckish Rogue …
                29 August 2016 at 1:13 pm

                The PPTA can say whatever they like, I don’t consider what they have to say of any relevance because its comes from a position of looking after themselves first

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  29 August 2016 at 1:42 pm

                  Got to keep on with and defend the lie now that you’ve been shown that you were wrong.

                  • Puckish Rogue …
                    29 August 2016 at 2:15 pm

                    No I’m not, I don’t believe anything that comes from the PPTA

                    “We care about the children that’s why we’ll strike during exams”

                    “We don’t get paid enough” “how much do you get paid?” crickets chirping “We don’t get paid enough”

                    • Stephanie Rodgers …
                      29 August 2016 at 3:12 pm

                      Strike action can only be taken during collective bargaining, so why not blame the Government for not settling more quickly?

                    • Puckish Rogue …
                      29 August 2016 at 3:38 pm

                      Damn straight Stephanie, whatever the PPTA want the Govt should just give it to them that way the PPTA (with a heavy heart and a deep sadness that its come to this of course) won’t strike

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  29 August 2016 at 2:25 pm

                  It’s relevant because it exposes your malicious lie and low character.

            • Gangnam Style 3.1.2.2.1.2
              29 August 2016 at 1:04 pm

              What is good for the teachers is good for the children.

          • Reddelusion 3.1.2.2.2
            29 August 2016 at 11:35 am

            Settle OAB you will pop a vein

            • reason 3.1.2.2.2.1
              29 August 2016 at 7:53 pm

              Teach us more about the ” Deranged Key Syndrome” that your in the know about RedD …………

              something as important as that and you only mention it once………

              If nothing else do it for poor Puckish ………. he’s feverish with it :0

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2.3
          29 August 2016 at 1:40 pm

          Imagine the howls from the union if National said teachers would get higher pay but you must have a masters degree to teach

          There would be none. The teachers really do want the best for the children that they teach.

          But imagine the howls of outrage that the RWNJs would make once the taxes were raised to cover the higher salaries and ongoing education of the teachers.

    • save nz 3.2
      29 August 2016 at 10:08 am

      +1 Tony P

  4. The Chairman 4
    29 August 2016 at 6:56 am

    Easter Trading

    “Despite being a conscience vote, all Labour MPs opposed Easter Trading, as did all other opposition parties.

    “Labour believes everyone deserves some time off with their family. We will re-examine this law in Government to make sure workers aren’t being forced to work when they’d rather be spending Easter Sunday with their loved ones,” Su’a William Sio says.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1608/S00504/councils-shouldnt-rush-into-easter-trading.htm

    Interesting. Despite being a conscience vote, all Labour MPs opposed Easter Trading. Yet, there is no commitment from Labour to overturn the Bill if they regain power. Albeit, they may tinker around the edges.

    Did Labour strike the right balance taking this position or is it another example of Labour falling short?

    Thoughts?

    • Paul 4.1
      29 August 2016 at 7:17 am

      What are your thoughts?
      What is your view on the Labour position?
      Express your ideas so we can respond to them, rather than simply saying ‘Thoughts?’

      • The Chairman 4.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 7:28 am

        I feel Labour’s position falls short.

        I also feel Labour continually falling short is costing them support.

        But this is not just about what one mere voter thinks, hence I put it out there to see what others think.

        • Sabine 4.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 8:14 am

          Well maybe next time you tell us first what you think and then we can tell you what we think.

          Thoughts?

          • Puckish Rogue 4.1.1.1.2
            29 August 2016 at 9:54 am

            Harsh for a Monday morning, maybe he/she was interested in what other people were thinking?

          • The Chairman 4.1.1.1.3
            29 August 2016 at 5:35 pm

            Sabine, are you implying people can’t formulate and share their own opinions on a highlighted matter without initially hearing mine?

            Moreover, I expressed my thoughts on the matter when asked by Paul above, yet you failed to comply with what you asserted.

            • McFlock 4.1.1.1.3.1
              29 August 2016 at 5:53 pm

              What I read from Sabine’s comment was that you’re usually asking everyone else’s opinion without offering your own. A little bit one-sided, that.

              From my perspective you also seem to recycle issues days after they were discussed as a result of being in the news – if you wanted to know what people thought, you could just read those discussions, for example.

              • The Chairman …
                29 August 2016 at 7:21 pm

                Yes, I tend to seek the opinions of others before later offering my own. And there are a number of reasons for doing that.

                Nevertheless, that shouldn’t prevent people from formulating and sharing their own opinions on a highlighted matter. Additionally, if they genuinely want to know my position, all they need to do is ask.

                As for Sabine’s comment, it was posted after I already expressed my thoughts, thus bringing into question Sabine’s genuine intention.

                As for this discussion, it relates to a more recent press release which differs from (and was put out after) the discussion from the other day.

    • Scott 4.2
      29 August 2016 at 10:07 am

      I think you’re missing the point of the comments on here. It is not about sensible discussion of current events. You are meant to express a strident view on it and then have others abuse you for daring to express a view counter to the echo.

      I think the Easter trading idea was silly. They should have just answered the question rather than devolve yet another politically problematic topic to local government. A bit like fluoridation.

      Labour won’t repeal it though, they will be just as happy to get it off the central government hands. Their opposition is just tokenism, but that is the status quo.

      • The Chairman 4.2.1
        29 August 2016 at 5:26 pm

        Enjoyed the sarcasm, but going off some of the discussion on here, it holds some merit.

        When Labour opposes something but fails to commit to overturning it, it helps to strengthen National’s position (TINA) while generating voter distrust and confusion. As shown with their position on the TPP.

    • Gabby 4.3
      29 August 2016 at 12:32 pm

      Labour believes everyone deserves some time off with their family.

      Discuss.

      • The Chairman 4.3.1
        29 August 2016 at 5:32 pm

        “Labour believes everyone deserves some time off with their family.”

        So they say.

        Yet, although they may tinker around the edges, there is no commitment from Labour to overturn the Bill if they regain power.

        Nor did Labour advocate for the NZ Land Wars commemoration day being a new public holiday.

        Labour often seem to talk the talk but fail to walk the walk.

      • Colonial Viper 4.3.2
        29 August 2016 at 7:19 pm

        Labour believes everyone deserves some time off with their family.

        It’s bullshit because Labour no longer believes in the fundamental right to a 40 hour work week.

  5. The Chairman 5
    29 August 2016 at 7:31 am

    Flexible” Drone Regulations Add Concern for NZ Pilots

    The concerns of New Zealand pilots and air traffic controllers about the ‘woeful inadequacy’ of safety regulation around the commercial use of drones, or Unmanned Aerial System/Vehicles (UAS), are yet to be taken seriously.

    Despite our numerous pleas, the government response was “flexible” regulations designed around a ‘wait and see’ approach, rather than legislating ahead to prevent a major accident occurring.

    Commenting on a pizza company’s plans to trial delivery by drone, NZALPA President Tim Robinson said that Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations that came into force in August last year did not take into account the informed and often repeated advice of pilots and the increasing number of ‘near-miss’ accidents that have underpinned pilot’s safety fears.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1608/S00308/flexible-drone-regulations-add-concern-for-nz-pilots.htm

    Thoughts?

    • Colonial Viper 5.1
      29 August 2016 at 8:01 am

      They are leaving the door open for the operation of covert and semi-covert military, intelligence and law enforcement drones.

    • joe90 5.2
      29 August 2016 at 9:24 am

      Thoughts?

      To paraphrase my brother the JetStar skipper, everything’s peachy – until a fan engine necks one and brings a ship and a couple of hundred souls down.

      • The Chairman 5.2.1
        29 August 2016 at 5:49 pm

        Indeed.

        The problem with New Zealand being used as a test case in this manner is New Zealanders are put at risk of the consequence of things going wrong.

        And with “flexible” regulations designed around a ‘wait and see’ approach it’s far from reassuring.

  7. Robert Guyton 7
    29 August 2016 at 7:41 am

    Comments from whitebait article:
    “The only unregulated fishing in NZ – why is it you can catch as much bait as you like? No licensing, no quota – a free for all !!!
    Then sell sell your il gotten gains for $100 kg – tax free !”

    ” I find it astounding that in this day and age of food accountability and tractability, that whitebait can to sold without a license by anyone to anyone, how much of that advertised “westcoast” whitebait is actually brownbait from the Avon”

  8. Ad 8
    29 August 2016 at 8:00 am

    There is something to be said for local election season.
    The parties are largely incoherent on it, and all there is, is people knocking on doors, putting up signs, selling their own self to get in there, fundraising one drinkie session at a time. So less mechanised – and up here in Auckland there are some really good leftie candidates.

  9. Repateet 9
    29 August 2016 at 8:02 am

    A prominent propagandist for the National Party has posted a link about their leader and his son. This is seemingly to give good PR to the leader.

    In the future the same propagandist will bitch when others use information about the son to give bad PR to the leader or merely for news purposes.

  10. Colonial Viper 10
    29 August 2016 at 8:07 am

    Dmitry Orlov speaks of the growing cognitive dissonance of western empire, the changing balance of geopolitics and the Middle East, the risks of war and how Russia and China are defending their interests

    ‘What the US tried to sell as its main product since WWII is stability: financial stability, political stability. But that was not working as well as becoming a mafia-like global protection racket’

    An example of this is how Slobodan Milosevic has been declared by the ICTY as being innocent of war crimes, after two decades of demonisation by the west and being used as a core part of the west’s excuse for the bombing and dismemberment of Yugoslavia.

    And the mindset which allows ordinary middle class Americans to ignore the negative effects of US exceptionalism throughout the world and even within their own country.

    • Psycho Milt 10.1
      29 August 2016 at 8:46 am

      An example of this is how Slobodan Milosevic has been declared by the ICTY as being innocent of war crimes, after two decades of demonisation by the west and being used as a core part of the west’s excuse for the bombing and dismemberment of Yugoslavia.

      1. Yugoslavia dismembered itself, long before “the west” had the slightest interest in the place.

      2. The only reason “the west” was eventually, reluctantly, forced to take any interest in the place was due to the flood of refugees into western Europe once Milosevic and his pals started on their apparently non-criminal “ethnic cleansing” of Yugoslavia in pursuit of a Greater Serbia. I was living in Germany at the time and attending learn-to-speak-German classes with those refugees, people like engineers and architects now working as cleaners in a foreign country because that was way better than being shot by Greater Serbia enthusiasts.

      3. There’s a big gap between a trial finding there was insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict, and being “declared innocent.”

      • Colonial Viper 10.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 10:07 am

        Sorry it breaks with the narrative you bought into.

        NATO wanted to see Yugoslavia broken up into little pieces and then assimilated into the western alliance, and that is the result they got.

        • Wayne 10.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 11:38 am

          CV,

          You seem to not know that NATO was quite happy with Yugoslavia under Tito.

          I don’t think it is credible to blame the multiple civil wars in Yugoslavia on the West any more than you can blame Assad on the West. Mind you that is exactly what you do.

          The reality is that these civil wars have their own origins and imperatives. For instance the US only really got involved in Bosnia after the Sebrenicia massacre. Stopping the Bosnian Serbs led to the Dayton Accords. And that basically ended the war (Kosovo excepted).

          What would you have done after a massacre of 8,000 within Europe, given the history?

          Nothing?

      • CC 10.1.2
        29 August 2016 at 10:54 am

        Strange – the media reports use the term ‘exonerated’. That sounds more like ‘declared innocent’ than ‘insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict’. Accordingly, it appears CV is more credible than PM.

        • McFlock 10.1.2.1
          29 August 2016 at 12:37 pm

          lol which media?

          You could flip through the judgement (big pdf) or use handy citations in footnotes from wikipedia, and find that although he wasn’t directly linked to genocide, he did supply the perpetrators with knowledge of their actions. Not to mention the ICJ judgement back in 2006 with reckoned that Serbia violated the genocide convention by not preventing it and shielding the perpetrators.

          So hardly “exonerated”.

      • CC 10.1.3
        29 August 2016 at 10:54 am

        Strange – the media reports use the term ‘exonerated’. That sounds more like ‘declared innocent’ than ‘insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict’. Accordingly, it appears CV is more credible than PM.

        • Psycho Milt 10.1.3.1
          29 August 2016 at 12:12 pm

          The judgement summary is here (PDF): http://www.icty.org/x/cases/karadzic/tjug/en/160324_judgement_summary.pdf.

          It mentions “does not have sufficient evidence…” and multiple instances of “not satisfied that” particular charges against Milosevic were proven, but doesn’t mention anything about declaring him innocent. But if you prefer media reports and loony right-wing nutcase web sites over the actual judgement, I can’t stop you.

          • CC 10.1.3.1.1
            29 August 2016 at 1:04 pm

            Are Radovan Karadžić and Milošević one and the same person? Check out the judgement you linked to then perhaps try again.

            • McFlock 10.1.3.1.1.1
              29 August 2016 at 1:34 pm

              The finding is mentioned in the full judgement I linked to above.
              Knock yourself out. Milosevic is sure not “exonerated”.

            • Psycho Milt 10.1.3.1.1.2
              29 August 2016 at 1:59 pm

              Sorry, yes, wrong judgement – given the “common plan” element of the charges against them it’s easy to end up in the wrong one. However, the correct one McFlock linked to has the same feature: plenty of “not satisfied” and “insufficient evidence,” but nothing to suggest Milosevic was actually innocent of the charges.

              • McFlock …
                29 August 2016 at 2:16 pm

                well, it’s the correct judgement, but the bit dealing with Milosevic was too minor to include in the media summary as opposed to the full 2.5k-page judgement.

                But then the paragraph or two “exonerating” (lol) Milosevich is a straw big enough for the ‘it’s all a western conspiracy’ crown to grasp at, I guess.

                • CC …
                  29 August 2016 at 3:01 pm

                  So Dragomir Milosevic is one and the same as Slobodan Milosevic is he?

                  • McFlock …
                    29 August 2016 at 3:12 pm

                    No, now you’re persisting in being an idiot. Check out the full judgement, p1303.

                    Fuck it, I’ll give you a freebie. This is your so-called “exoneration”:

                    3460. With regard to the evidence presented in this case in relation to Slobodan Milošević and his
                    membership in the JCE, the Chamber recalls that he shared and endorsed the political objective of
                    the Accused and the Bosnian Serb leadership to preserve Yugoslavia and to prevent the separation
                    or independence of BiH and co-operated closely with the Accused during this time. The Chamber
                    also recalls that Milošević provided assistance in the form of personnel, provisions, and arms to the
                    Bosnian Serbs during the conflict.11026 However, based on the evidence before the Chamber
                    regarding the diverging interests that emerged between the Bosnian Serb and Serbian leaderships
                    during the conflict and in particular, Milošević’s repeated criticism and disapproval of the policies
                    and decisions made by the Accused and the Bosnian Serb leadership,11027 the Chamber is not
                    satisfied that there was sufficient evidence presented in this case to find that Slobodan Milošević
                    agreed with the common plan.

                    So yeah, apparently he wasn’t entirely cool with genocide, but nor was he so disturbed by it that he was going to cut off supplies and keep his army out of it.

                    edit: basically in line with the ICJ judgement a few years back that said Serbia didn’t actively participate in the genocide but failed to prevent it and hid the perpetrators

  11. Gosman 11
    29 August 2016 at 9:07 am

    Interesting article that has a huge relevance for blog sites such as this one

    http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160823-how-modern-life-is-destroying-democracy

    • Gosman 11.1
      29 August 2016 at 9:09 am

      This bit I think especially rings true in terms of mindset displayed by many Herr

      ‘“I’d come back to my predominantly liberal social circle and try to explain that the other side isn’t ignorant or malevolent,” he says. He faced harsh rebukes for his open-mindedness, including accusations of treachery’

      • Puckish Rogue 11.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 9:48 am

        I like this bit:

        “However, whatever you do – don’t use this article to try to change someone’s mind. Given evidence against our beliefs, the “backfire effect” tends to make us believe our original views even more strongly. It looks like you’re unlikely to win that debate with your friends any time soon. “

        • Craig H 11.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 7:12 pm

          There’s an exception if people challenge the opinion with facts quickly, although stuffed if I can remember where I read that…

      • Stuart Munro 11.1.2
        29 August 2016 at 6:18 pm

        White-collar criminal resents accusations of treachery – “It’s hard enough betraying one’s country without the ghastly spectre of accountability” he said.

    • joe90 11.2
      29 August 2016 at 9:43 am

      I reckon a growing anti-intellectualism combined with everybody’s a fucking expert is the worry.

      https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201407/anti-intellectualism-and-the-dumbing-down-america

      I fear we are witnessing the “death of expertise”: a Google-fueled, Wikipedia-based, blog-sodden collapse of any division between professionals and laymen, students and teachers, knowers and wonderers – in other words, between those of any achievement in an area and those with none at all. By this, I do not mean the death of actual expertise, the knowledge of specific things that sets some people apart from others in various areas. There will always be doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other specialists in various fields. Rather, what I fear has died is any acknowledgement of expertise as anything that should alter our thoughts or change the way we live.

      http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/17/the-death-of-expertise/

      • Colonial Viper 11.2.1
        29 August 2016 at 10:11 am

        The most highly qualified people in the world, the leading politicians and bureaucrats who went to the most prestigious universities in the world have led our multi-decades long charge into this industrial technological financialised neoliberal nuclear confrontational GMO polluted mess.

        No wonder the credibility of experts with the ordinary working class person is in a state of collapse.

        • McFlock 11.2.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 12:48 pm

          The irony being that the working class person in any given society is better off, lives longer, and is probably happier than they would have been without the assistance of all those experts.

  12. Sanctuary 12
    29 August 2016 at 9:34 am

    John Armstrong’s blog piece on the Havelock North water poisoning scandal doesn’t just hit the whole issue out of the park, it smashes it into orbit. He sums it all up brilliantly to the point it warrants IMHO a linked post all of it’s own so it be read by a wider audience.

    https://armstrongonpolitics.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/somethings-in-the-water-somethings-astray-in-the-bay/

    I have to say, being freed from the shackles of the NZ Heralds pro-National agenda has been very good for Mr. Armstrong’s writing.

    • Colonial Viper 12.1
      29 August 2016 at 10:13 am

      The usual story, if you want to be fed and not live day to day like a pauper, you need to compromise your personal values and thoughts to some degree in line with the expectations of status quo power.

    • Bearded Git 12.2
      29 August 2016 at 10:51 am

      Thanks Sanctuary-very interesting reading. When Armstrong is not being ordered by the Herald to write anti-Left attack pieces he can be quite balanced.

      Love the conclusion. Key’s government has always been a “do-nothing” regime, except for tinkering to help the top 5% and the farmers while spinning (lying) continually about issues such as the environment.

    • save nz 12.3
      29 August 2016 at 10:53 am

      +1 Sanctuary worth reading – gives you a good insight on the Havelock North from a National voting perspective.

      • Sanctuary 12.3.1
        29 August 2016 at 11:07 am

        There has been a fair bit of snickering and schadenfreude around Hawkes Bay at the, *ahem* “democratising” impact of this event on so many of the self-appointed royal posteriors of Havelock North.

  13. Colonial Viper 13
    29 August 2016 at 10:42 am

    Six or eight soldiers of the post Charlie Hebdo killings anti-terrorism ‘Sentinelle Project’ stood outside the Bataclan concert hall and did nothing during the massacre

    These French soldiers were fully armed with army issued Famas assault rifles, on anti-terrorism detail, and outnumbered the Islamic fundamentalist terrorist attackers who were slaughtering the concert goers inside the hall.

    The final death toll was 90.

    When the first lightly armed police units finally arrived and asked the soldiers for support (which they refused to provide), then asked the soldiers to lend them their assault weapons to use against the terrorists, the soldiers refused to hand them over.

    And on and on.

    http://thefreethoughtproject.com/french-military-bataclan-massacre/

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6be88540c0a7407fb4563f6eef7a7df8/french-legislators-urge-intel-overhaul-after-paris-attacks

    http://thestandard.org.nz/fair-and-sustainable-economics/#comment-1224936

    • marty mars 13.1
      29 August 2016 at 10:51 am

      Okay I read both those. Still don’t get your point. Are you suggesting complicity, incompetence, or what, that something else is afoot.

      • Colonial Viper 13.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 10:53 am

        I’m suggesting that I’d prefer to be looked after by a unit of the NZSAS any time of the day or night.

        But yeah, a mix of tactical leadership incompetence and bureaucratic paralysis.

    • Puckish Rogue 13.2
      29 August 2016 at 11:10 am

      “They felt that they were not to intervene because their rules of engagement did not anticipate that they had to intervene. Their rules stipulated that they could protect themselves. It is entirely unbelievable, amazing.”

      Yeah I can see that happening (if that’s what happened of course) it would probably be drummed into the soldiers to be careful, that if they get it wrong they can be done for murder etc etc

      Similar thing happened during the training for the soldiers going over to Timor, how important it was to follow the rules, how you had to be certain and examples were given of soldiers that didn’t and were sentenced for murder etc etc

      Of course after the Pte Manning incident the ROE were interpreted differently

      • McFlock 13.2.1
        29 August 2016 at 12:45 pm

        Sucks to be everyone there, including the six soldiers, but I much prefer soldiers/cops who don’t shoot when not allowed vs them that shoot off their own bat.

        • Puckish Rogue 13.2.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 1:23 pm

          I guess to me its how the rules are laid out but then we don’t know if what the links are saying is actually true or not

          • McFlock 13.2.1.1.1
            29 August 2016 at 2:30 pm

            Yeah.

            At worst it simply looks to me like the old “lack of single identified commander in charge and aware of all resources at the scene” problem, i.e. someone who could change the soldiers’ ROE or get them to do something useful.

            At best someone on the interwebs got the wrong end of the stick, it’s not as if that’s happened before…

        • Colonial Viper 13.2.1.2
          29 August 2016 at 3:27 pm

          Sucks to be everyone there, including the six soldiers, but I much prefer soldiers/cops who don’t shoot when not allowed vs them that shoot off their own bat.

          I prefer police and soldiers who are on duty, and assigned to anti-terrorism duties to use their professional initiative in order to intervene and save dozens of civilian lives during an ongoing terrorist attack in progress, instead of wondering whether or not .

          Otherwise why are we bothering with funding this security surveillance state and the massive resources and human rights it sucks up and spits out?

          • McFlock 13.2.1.2.1
            29 August 2016 at 3:47 pm

            Of course you would, because you want it both ways, and you have the magical power of hindsight and the intrinsic intelligence of the universe telling you what to do.

            How were they to know it wasn’t going to be a hostage situation, and if they ran in it wasn’t going to turn out like Beslan when the bombs went off? How did they know that if they go in one side, that some cops won’t similarly use their “professional initiative” and go in the other, and both groups end up shooting each other in the dark and catching civilians in the crossfire? Or maybe they save the day only to be shot by the cops when they try to leave because nobody knows who’s in there?

            Now yes, Captain Hindsight, maybe there will be command and control lessons learned from this incident. But when soldiers start using their “professional initiative” in a situation that blurs with civilian policing, we end up with all sorts of really nasty things going on, things that no doubt you’d bitch about with your 20/20 hindsight. Almost as bad as when cops start pretending that they’re soldiers.

            • Colonial Viper 13.2.1.2.1.1
              29 August 2016 at 4:39 pm

              The risk averse bureaucratic mindset at work.

              While armed soldiers on anti-terror duty stand around listening to the screams of dozens of their countrymen being shot to death inside a concert hall by Islamic terrorists.

              • McFlock …
                29 August 2016 at 5:05 pm

                You’re assuming that they all had the same knowledge of the situation as you do now. And yet if they’d rushed in, and the gunfire was just into the air to corral hostages but the impromptu storming by half a dozen soldiers was faced by a couple of dozen hostage-takers who set off their bombs when confronted in a confined auditorium and the ensuing blaze killed as many or more than what occurred in reality… oh but then you’ll have been judging it as an amateur response by gung-ho rambo-wannabees and decrying the surveillance state from that angle.

                I’m sure if you’d been one of those soldiers you’d have saved the day. /sarc

  14. Karen 14
    29 August 2016 at 10:47 am

    Great news!

    Sue Bradford has managed to get her left wing think tank off the ground. The launch will be on Friday but the website is already live. At last there will be some quality research available to counter the right wing spin that comes out of the NZ Initiative.

    https://www.esra.nz/

  16. Lanthanide 16
    29 August 2016 at 11:56 am

    “Strident moderation will be exercised in the comments section”

    I think you mean “strict”.

    [Off-Topic Dribble – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

  17. Scott 17
    29 August 2016 at 11:58 am

    All I know is that she lists being chairperson of it on her university profile page. I just used google (same as the guest poster of this post but perhaps a bit more carefully).

    I’m not the one making the accusation that the organisation is fictitious. At least on its face it is not.

    [DERAIL – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

    • joe90 17.1
      29 August 2016 at 12:07 pm

      (same as the guest poster of this post but perhaps a bit more carefully).

      Oh do fuck off.

      You ignored the poster noting that – we tracked down a small group of people (like, 4-6 people, it seemed) at the University of Canterbury that might be the Special Needs Association! Was this it? No. And anyway, that small band of merry folk are disbanding – the same organisation your supposedly superior google foo turned up .

      • Scott 17.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 12:56 pm

        I did not find the “Special Needs Association”. I didn’t even look for that. I have no idea whether that organisation exists, or is disbanding.

        What I looked for was the “Special Education Association” (the one mentioned by the Minister according to the post above), and what I found was the “New Zealand Special Education Association”. And I found it appears to have a chairperson who seems a serious sort of academic.

        It took me 30 seconds. I claim no searching skill, just looked for the organisation that was said to exist.

        Next time I’ll just ask on twitter I guess, or phone a couple of like minded mates.

        • Matthew Whitehead 17.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 1:53 pm

          For an organisation that provides seminars and conferences it has surprisingly little web presence. I could find the relevant contact email, (on a Christchurch directory) but that was it.

          I’m willing to bet it’s probably just CV padding at this stage, although I suppose I could be wrong.

  18. Lanthanide 18
    29 August 2016 at 12:00 pm

    It’s actually the first result on google (for me), even without quotes or without searching for NZ websites.

    Hard to tell if it was like that at the time when blip searched though; google does update its index fairly frequently and so the discussion around this point could have promoted the site higher.

    [DERAIL – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

    • Scott 18.1
      29 August 2016 at 12:11 pm

      The exchange on Facebook does make it look like the Minister was not actually quoting someone from the Association, and hence that the answer in Parliament may have been unclear (choosing a nice word), but what got my back up was that the accusation being made was so easily check-able and yet no attempt seems to have been made to do so.

      If it had been checked and the apparent organisation discounted then there ought to be some explanation about that, like it used to be but is now defunct as confirmed by its apparent chairperson. But a flat out statement that the organisation doesn’t exist fails at the most rudimentary investigation.

      • Sacha 18.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 12:29 pm

        Hansard was clear that Parata was emphasising the name like an official organisation, and the skilled stenographers capitalised it accordingly. The Minister tries to fudge this by using lower-case in her Facebook responses, but there is absolutely no doubt what the words mean. If she meant the whole ‘sector’ she would have used that word.

        The post author has identified and discounted the grouping your google-fu led you to. Stop trying to defend the indefensible.

        • Scott 18.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 12:37 pm

          No, the poster identifies and eliminates the ” Special Needs Association”.

          What my simple search discovered was the “New Zealand Special Education Association”.

          Look, I see see what you mean about the facebook comment, it is at odds with the statement in parliament. But when someone is accusing a Minister of lying in Parliament they ought to be more careful. “I phoned a couple like minded mates”, asked on twitter, and (apparently incompetently) did a google search doesn’t cut it for me.

          • Stephanie Rodgers 18.1.1.1.1
            29 August 2016 at 1:00 pm

            And then the Minister, herself, did *not* say it was the group you’re crowing about being able to find on Google. So enough of this weaselly “it’s at odds”, “it does seem unclear” defence of Hekia Parata. She lied to Parliament and the evidence is in her fudging when called on it.

            • Lanthanide 18.1.1.1.1.1
              29 August 2016 at 1:10 pm

              Scott is not defending Hekia at all.

              He is criticising this post for making an accusation that is unfounded.

              It is quite possible to think Hekia is a lying twit, and also think that this post is making an untrue accusation.

            • Scott 18.1.1.1.1.2
              29 August 2016 at 1:19 pm

              I’m not defending her at all. She seems to have stuff up royally. All I’m saying is that the accusation made appears to be wrong.

              If you’re pointing the finger at someone like this, you ought to do so carefully.

              At the moment, the only evidence that she lied to parliament is that the comment in parliament is inconsistent with a later facebook comment attributed to her. So what? It needs more digging, and a more careful accusation.

              • Andrew Geddis …
                29 August 2016 at 1:29 pm

                The accusation is that Parata made up the organisation. The fact that an organisation exists (or, existed) with this name does not disprove that accusation.

                • srylands …
                  29 August 2016 at 1:32 pm

                  Why would she make up something?

                  You know Andrew said stop barking at every passing car? This is one of those cars.

                  • Andrew Geddis …
                    29 August 2016 at 1:38 pm

                    To make her answer sound more credible?

                    But I don’t know if she did or not. I’m simply pointing out to those who say that “the Google proves Parata didn’t make this up” that it does no such thing.

                • Scott …
                  29 August 2016 at 2:24 pm

                  Well yes it does, because if the organisation exists then she did not fabricate the organisations existence.

                  Now she might have made up what she attributes to it, or have wrongly attributed it to them. But those are not what the headline and the body of the post say. They say she simply made the organisation up. The existence of the organisation would appear to disprove that particular accusation.

                  • North …
                    29 August 2016 at 3:28 pm

                    Have it your way Scott…….in which case she didn’t lie about the association but she lied about what it said. Can’t have it both ways boyo. Are you OK ?

                  • Scott …
                    29 August 2016 at 4:00 pm

                    to North

                    Yes, quite happy with that. She may have either made up what she claimed she was told, or wrongly attributed it.

                    But what we can be increasingly sure of she that did not do what the headline and the article accuse her of.

                • Atiawa …
                  29 August 2016 at 4:39 pm

                  Any chance of Nicola Standing’s phone number?

          • mpledger 18.1.1.1.2
            29 August 2016 at 5:03 pm

            The ministers “Special Needs Association” and the “New Zealand Special Needs Association” are not the same thing – the former is missing the words “New Zealand”.

            But your argument “but I found the organisations that she was talking about” fails because you didn’t find the organisation she named. You found a similarly named one.

            It her job to get things right when questioned. We are meant to trust that when she says the name of an organisation that she correctly names the organisation.

            But it turns out to be even worse than that because she just made up some stuff that sounded like it was some official body when it was just odds and ends of people she talked to.

        • Johan 18.1.1.2
          29 August 2016 at 12:57 pm

          Do not be too hard on Scott, the intransigent Glaswegian.
          There are a number of other websites, sporting his Tory BS tactics.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 18.1.2
        29 August 2016 at 1:22 pm

        So either the Minister was lying about the support, or got support from perhaps one member of an organisation, that was so organised it disbanded from lack of interest.

        I suppose the only grounds for not resigning at that point is that all the alternative candidates are worse. This being the National Party, that seems quite likely.

        She’s answerable to this same corrupt rabble, so nothing will come of this perjury and/or gross incompetence.

  19. smilin 19
    29 August 2016 at 1:24 pm

    On the winz beneficiary site there is this insidious series of entries from the stats dept about trends taking up 2/3 of the space on any page stating information about the particular benefit available
    Why is there a need for a beneficiary to be sidetracked from what they need to know is beyond me as this stat info in trends is of no use to a beneficiary
    As it is there is nothing to direct beneficiaries to further help outside of winz and this is what we get for all the supposed increases for beneficiaries
    Bigger fatter salaries for what less help for beneficiaries

  20. save nz 20
    29 August 2016 at 1:42 pm

    “It’s become a well-accepted fact in Christchurch that wealthier areas of the city received a better deal from government agencies and quicker responses to the disastrous earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 than poorer suburbs.”

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/08/29/if-this-isnt-corrupt-practice-what-is/

    • Chooky 20.1
      29 August 2016 at 6:35 pm

      +100 this is very true…and John Minto was a superb columnist for the Christchurch Press….I really missed his insightful, hard hitting, truth telling columns when they dis-established him

      I guess now that Minto is standing for mayor the Christchurch Press (which is usually right wing and pro National in slant ) will have to give him coverage again.

      Also sincerely hope he becomes Mayor of Christchurch

      • save nz 20.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 8:55 pm

        +1 Chooky – yep no matter your politics Chch should vote Minto in to get rid of all the corruption and get the reconstruction back on track and fair for all.

  21. Lanthanide 21
    29 August 2016 at 1:47 pm

    But I don’t know if she did or not. I’m simply pointing out to those who say that “the Google proves Parata didn’t make this up” that it does no such thing.

    And this is the KEY to the misunderstanding of yourself (and others) and what Scott is saying.

    Scott has not said “the Google proves Parata didn’t make this up”.

    Scott has said “the Google evidence contradicts the statement made in this article, that no such organisation exists”.

    [DERAIL – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

  22. alwyn 22
    29 August 2016 at 2:29 pm

    When, and from whom, did Sue Bradford get a PhD?
    I had heard that she was studying for one but not that she had actually received it.

    [Derail – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

    • One Anonymous Bloke 22.1
      29 August 2016 at 4:31 pm

      Are you offering to pay someone to do your homework for you? Otherwise I don’t think much of your chances.

      • alwyn 22.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 4:58 pm

        I got mine years ago you silly little fellow. What has that got to do with my question? Have you learnt to read yet?
        I was curious where Sue went.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 22.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 5:03 pm

          *whoosh*

          I’ll find out for you for an exorbitant fee. I reserve the right to ridicule your inability to use Google while I’m at it.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 22.1.1.2
          29 August 2016 at 7:48 pm

          I take that back: I’m going to ridicule your inability to follow the links in the post instead. Now let’s discuss my fee 😆

        • North 22.1.1.3
          29 August 2016 at 8:29 pm

          Cha…I’m a fucked right wing Doc/Coc/onetime Labour voter. We lie down down to you Tralwyn.

          [Settle down – First and last warning – BLiP]

    • Chris 22.2
      29 August 2016 at 5:01 pm

      You’re not another one of these people that won’t accept anything unless they’re fed links, are you?

    • North 22.3
      29 August 2016 at 7:13 pm

      Gossip gossip gossip nasty cow Tralwyn !

  23. Lanthanide 23
    29 August 2016 at 3:06 pm

    I agree with your stance in this matter Scott, but I’ll note that the sort of careful semantic argument you’re making here is very often mis-read by others – not deliberately, just that for many it’s hard to see the very precise point that you’re making. So they put it together in their own mind and assume that you’re defending the minister, when of course you’re doing nothing of the sort.

    I didn’t bother to raise this particular argument on this post because past experience told me of how this would end up. Ultimately it doesn’t matter a lot either way, since as others have shown there’s already sufficient other evidence (primarily from her statements on facebook) to think that Hekia just made her attribution up.

    [DERAIL – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

    • Scott 23.1
      29 August 2016 at 3:53 pm

      Cheers.

      There does appear to be a story here, but like so much lately the desire to make it as spicy as you can leads to hyperbole, and ultimately to the message being lost.

      • BLiP 23.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 5:45 pm

        ‘

        Oh, puhleeze, just fuck off. The message of the post has not been lost, despite your attempts to cloud the issue with a public demonstration of failure to comprehend. If your objection really is about the style of the post rather than the content, feel free, by all means, to join the ranks of Guest Authors and show us all how it should be done.

        • Lanthanide 23.1.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 8:39 pm

          Or, we could just comment on the posts. Since discussing posts is what the comment section is for, after all.

  24. Wayne 24
    29 August 2016 at 3:25 pm

    When an item produces a debate of 74 posts of whether she made it up or not, it is probably an indication that this particular attack on the Minister is going nowhere.

    Most people will just give up on determining the the exact correctness of what was said, and on what basis.

    Surely it would better to focus on the policy itself, which I am certain will be of much more interest to parents.

    A Wellington-centric debate of who said what when is missing the point.

    An all too frequent occurrence on this blog.

    [DERAIL – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

    • North 24.1
      29 August 2016 at 3:50 pm

      The passive/aggressive Wayne’s “going nowhere” is Wayne doing exactly what Scott has been doing all along…..derailing. What does remain is yet another example of National Party arrogance and dishonesty.

      • srylands 24.1.1
        29 August 2016 at 3:52 pm

        Well good luck with getting any traction whatsoever on this with normal people. You know most people. Who vote.

    • Lanthanide 24.2
      29 August 2016 at 4:08 pm

      Actually Wayne, most of the debate has been about the things this article says.

      It very plainly and clearly says a google search was carried out, but no such organisation as “Special Education Association” exists. Except when I and others perform this same search, they appear as the first google result.

      So the article is clearly wrong.

      • BLiP 24.2.1
        29 August 2016 at 4:55 pm

        . . . So the article is clearly wrong.

        Nope. Hekia Parata fabricated a Special Education Association which is a different entity than the Special Education Association which appears in Google, and that latter entity is moribond which, functionally, is the same as non-existent. Hekia Parata’s Special Education Association, on the other hand, is entirely imaginary. The post author specifically references the Google result and easily dismisses it as being the Special Education Association, Hekia Parata is then quoted, confirming this.

        Hopefully, an MP concerned about National Ltd’s orchestrated and perpetual mendacity will follow up with this latest example. A good question to ask might be: “Show us the DOX where the Special Education Association said this latest policy will provide the benefits you claim”.

        • mpledger 24.2.1.1
          29 August 2016 at 5:08 pm

          Or someone does an OIA asking for all material related to her communications with the Special Education Association.

        • Lanthanide 24.2.1.2
          29 August 2016 at 5:38 pm

          Nope. Hekia Parata fabricated a Special Education Association which is a different entity than the Special Education Association which appears in Google, and that latter entity is moribond which, functionally, is the same as non-existent.

          And people call me a sophist.

          The article says:

          I tried Googling. I’m good at Googling. But nothing.

          If your version of events is to be believed, it should say something like this:

          “I tried Googling. I’m good at Googling. I found a reference to the New Zealand Special Education Association, so I thought I’d found it! Some quick further research showed this group to be moribund, and after talking to the chairperson, I confirmed that despite having the same name as the organisation Hekia quoted, they had in fact not spoken to her”.

          But the article didn’t say that. It said this:

          I tried Googling. I’m good at Googling. But nothing.

          The article is wrong.

          If only the article said what you claim it says, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. But it doesn’t say what you think it says.

          • BLiP 24.2.1.2.1
            29 August 2016 at 6:02 pm

            ‘

            I understand your point. I disagree. Now drop it, please. Enough. Saying the same thing over and over again does not make that thing any more true or false. What it does indicate, though, is an attempt to clutter a conversation with a trainspotters’ squabble to detract from the main point of the post. Such behaviour sometimes require’s a strident response if it goes on too long.

      • North 24.2.2
        29 August 2016 at 5:46 pm

        Yes Lanth’, and you and Scott are wearing green cardigans, no hang on they’re purple aren’t they, no, yellow…….oh bugger, they’re cardigans for fuck sake. Talk about pedantry…….one for the sake of it the other to protect a liar.

    • DoublePlusGood 24.3
      29 August 2016 at 5:13 pm

      That debate of 74 posts only occurred because a couple of trolls are deliberately ignoring the blatantly obvious truth that Hekia Parata lied her pants off, and for whatever reason are trying to disseminate away from that. As are you. Obviously you support Hekia Parata lying in parliament. Perhaps this is because you did the same?

  25. Lanthanide 25
    29 August 2016 at 4:09 pm

    Scott hasn’t been derailing, he’s been making a very specific point that most people have mis-read.

    Now, the point he is making is ultimately not important in the grand scheme of things (which seems to be a large part of why people are mis-reading what he is saying), but the point he is making is valid, none-the-less.

    [DERAIL – Moved to Open Mike – BLiP]

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    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

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