Happy Birthday Ianupnorth. Have a great day!
Taking a positive spin on that article.. it has given Goff a wonderful opportunity to promote not selling NZ’s assets and to remind people of Labour having to buy Air New Zealand back and fix it after the last attempt to privatise it! Makes Fyfe’s point a little petty don’t you think/? (no disrepsrect to the koro)
I got a mild case of cognitive whiplash reading Fyfe’s logic. I mean here the guy is running an airline that wouldn’t exist if it were not for the previous Labour govt and then he wants to tell us that politics should keep off his precious grass.
I read the rest of his spam email to his unfortunate staff. Turns out Fyfe has a broken finger. He claims it was a boating accident, but I suspect it was PM’s arse related.
Forget Pete George, he would be to dumb to comment on this.
Tax Justice media release
28 October 2011
“The Occupy Movement is protesting the injustice of the world’s 99% having to bear the costs of a financial crisis caused by an elite few,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice spokesperson.
“The best mechanism for making the super-rich 1% pay is a financial transaction tax, or Robin Hood Tax,” says Gunson. “It’s very exciting to see that the global movement for this tax which targets banks, big corporates and financial speculators is growing.”
The Robin Hood Tax international day of action on Saturday 29 October is timed to put pressure on the leaders of the G20 before their summit meeting in Cannes on 3 November. In New Zealand, actions are being organised in Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch.
“Tax Justice has been campaigning over the last year for financial speculation to be taxed. It’s criminal that the profits of speculators go untaxed, while ordinary New Zealanders are taxed every which way,” says Gunson.
The Tax Justice petition signed by 40,000 New Zealanders was presented to Parliament on 16 August. The petition calls for GST to be removed from food and a tax placed on financial speculation instead.
“Politicians in New Zealand need to respond to the global movement and start looking at how we can introduce a Robin Hood Tax in New Zealand,” says Gunson.
Tax Justice would like to see the parties of the left come together on tax policy. “A broad coalition that brings together left parties inside and outside of Parliament, along with unions and other grassroots organisations, could achieve a decisive shift towards a more just fairer tax system,” says Gunson.
“The beauty of financial transaction taxes is that they can target the super-rich who aren’t paying enough tax; it’s almost impossible to avoid; and modern technology makes it a simple and low cost form of tax collection,” says Gunson.
Tax Justice has produced a Fact Sheet on Financial Transactions Taxes and their feasibility for New Zealand. To download PDF click here.
Sort of. He complained about the waste of taxpayer money. I agree wholeheartedly.
The National party effort was a complete waste of time and money. It was that bad I felt a little bit sorry for the National Party. I expected a razzamatazz Crosby Textor polished juggernaut of an effort that would have had Labour reeling. Instead I got this?
If taxpayer money was used to fund this piece of shyte then I agree there should be an inquiry and at least the complete repayment of any money paid.
That ship’s on fire, she’s sinking fast,
There’s one man standing on the mast,
His arms are spread in the flames around his head
He’d better jump before the blast,
PM John Key is standing on the quay
He’s taking colour photographs.
It’s not ‘Occupy’ that is being deceitful and dishonest.
It is the organisations that have inserted themselves into it and generated a platform themselves and elevated their their agendas and their programmes over any message/ action that might otherwise have emerged from a genuine dialogue between people ‘coming together’ over stuff they are rightfully pissed off about.
Thanks Bill, you are right, I know quite a few people (including myself) that thought Occupy would be a great opportunity to make a difference regardless of affiliations but are quite pissed off about what’s happened in NZ.
I know Green party supporters who are very sympathetic to the theoretical aims of Occupy who deliberately kept their politics out of it, and they amongst many others have been shat on.
Once again in agreement with Bill and suggest we take inspiration from the fact that today Egypt will once again inhabit Tarhir Sq, in solidarity with Occupywallstreet and oocupyoakland. It’s international, so whatever happens in Dunedin, although its a missed opportunity here, it is insignificant in the bigger picture.
This person writes a brilliant first hand account of an awakening in Oakland…
Well that pretty much destroys (yet again) the credibility of those making wild predictions of National’s collapse following the Rena incident. Given the desperately dishonest efforts of Labour & the Greens to somehow blame it on John Key, I had expected the Govt to take a hit. However, it seems that the public has seen through that.
Hopefully, the dirty campaigning has ended, and the campaigns – and the polls – will focus on substantive policy and issues.
“Hopefully, the dirty campaigning has ended, and the campaigns – and the polls – will focus on substantive policy and issues.”
Agree, entirely, Queenie. Do let us know when National make the switch to substantive policy and issues, because on last night’s effort, relying on John Key won’t do it for them this time round.
Well that pretty much destroys (yet again) the credibility of those making wild predictions of National’s collapse following the Rena incident.
No-one here predicted National’s collapse. What we did suggest is that it could well be an ‘inflexion point’. Putting words into other people’s mouths is very bad form.
National have been very, very fortunate that the Rena has held together against expectations , or that there hasn’t been another big storm causing a final break-up. Because that is all that has prevented far more oil landing on the beaches of the BOP.
And if that had happened the focus would have inevitably come back onto that first 100 hours after the grounding when it is now blatantly obvious more could have and should have been done. That and the RWC, which also was a very fortunate distraction for the government.
I suggest you look at the numerous Rena-related posts on this site. Here’s just one example:
My guess is that National will keep losing votes as this crisis drags on, and more and more questions are asked about their credibility.
What we did suggest is that it could well be an ‘inflexion point’. Putting words into other people’s mouths is very bad form.
Well, it seems I am addressed by the official spokesman for this entire site, which makes it ironic that you accuse me of putting words into other people’s mouths. Please tell me, what words did I put into other people’s mouths?
[lprent: RL is both an author and moderator. There are no official spokespeople – just a grumpy sysop who tends to prefer to bite the head off media rather than prancing around being a glory hound.
There were posts and comments that said it was likely that Rena would drop National support (not a collapse). A single small poll (750 wtf?) taken while the issue was still unfolding is hardly likely to show that.
RL is right. You are wrong. Bullshitting about the site as a whole is a Darwin award infraction. Trying to tell authors what they did not say is a dangerous trait. I very nearly gave you an educational ban. But I am feeling lazy this morning. ]
I trust it is not to trifle with the sysop to state that I do not know what I supposedly told an author they didn’t say, and nor do I know what words I supposedly put in anyone’s mouth.
All I did was assert what had been said, and then provide a quote in support when challenged. RL said “No-one here predicted National’s collapse”, and I posted a quote – by an author – to refute that. I don’t see how providing a quote constitutes “bullshitting about the site as a whole”.
On further review, perhaps RL does not consider that the comment “keep losing votes” to fall within the definition of “collapse” – the term I used. If that is the objection, then I would say that on dictionary definitions the term collapse is a perfectly valid term to describe comments such as “losing votes”, especially as a result of losing votes following a sudden, unexpected event. From the definition of “collapse”:
collapse… 3: to cave or fall in or give way… 4: to suddenly lose force, significance, effectiveness, or worth
On further review, perhaps RL does not consider that the comment “keep losing votes” to fall within the definition of “collapse” – the term I used.
Just to be clear… no I do not. A collapse would be something far more dramatic, like plunging within a week or two from 60% ratings to below 40% for instance. None of the authors or commenters who wrote about the Rena were saying anything like that.
What many people did suggest was that it was possibly a turning point, from which the trend for National might start to slowly loose ground.
Was I hearing things – was listening to the news on the radio this morning and heard the latest Horizon poll has Labour up in the polls and the Nats down. Cant find anything about it online,
maybe I was dreaming but it sounded quite impressive.
It came out a week ago, and suggests that the Nat’s can’t make it without Banks coming through in Epsom.
The highlights include a massive 0.4% support for United Follicles and ACT and the Maori party only marginally better off.
National has 36.8% of registered voters (down 2.7% since September 22)
Labour 25.7% (-1.1%)
Green Party 11.6% (up 0.9%)
New Zealand First 6.2% (- 1.1%)
Mana Party 2.3% (+ 0.3%)
Act 3.4% (down 1.4% from September and down from a high of 5.3% in May shortly after Don Brash became leader)
Maori Party 1.7% (+0.7%)
United Future 0.4% ( 0% in September)
Conservative Party of New Zealand 2.2% (new party, first time measured)
New Citizens 0%
Other parties 1.2%
I likewise found the Herald Digi-Poll a little difficult to believe in the face a poor six weeks for National.Although 10.6% of respondants were uncommited or 79.5 people (!). The election will of course be a major proving ground between the methodologies of the regular polls against the newcomer Horizon.
No doubt our neo-liberal cougar has a cushy pension fund stashed away somewhere, where as others, if she had her way would have to sell everything they own in order to get some subsistence in their retirement.
National want to make it hard for the poor to strike for better wages and conditions…..
The National Party wants pay to be cut when workers stage partial strikes or work-to-rules.
In its election policy on industrial relations announced on Friday, National says workers can sometimes do very little work for months under the guise of a partial strike and still be paid.
The party says with approval from the Department of Labour, company executives should be able to cut some of their income.
The proposal would particularly affect groups such as nurses and fire fighters, who stage only partial strikes in order to maintain emergency cover.
Trade unions say National’s proposal would harm low-paid workers who cannot afford full strike action.
Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly says it could increase disruption as workers move faster to all-out strike action fearing loss of money anyway.
“For very low-paid workers, it’s intended to remove a form of industrial action that is often the only one they can afford. For groups like nurses, who are very reluctant to take strike action and often show their objection by doing things like refusing extra shifts, they’ll actually be forced to take strike action.
But Business New Zealand is pleased, saying partial strikes are extremely damaging to industry.
Paul Mackay, of Business Zealand is pleased, saying the greatest industrial damage in New Zealand is caused by partial strikes.
“If we all accept that this country has got an awful lot of work to do on the productivity front, the idea that there’s no penalty for deliberately slowing the boat down so that it won’t arrive on time or won’t deliver the goods has got to have some frustration attached to it.
“So I think what we’re seeing now is the Government being prepared to say, ‘If you want to frustrate productivity, be prepared for it to cost you something.'” – Source : RadioNZ
For “If you want to frustrate productivity, be prepared for it to cost you something.” read…
“In order to conquer, we are dividing the work force into those who can strike and those who can’t!”
Not only did we have to put up with Hekia Parata’s bold faced lies that New Zealand had the resources and manpower to deal with an oil spill the size of Deepwater Horizon… we now have to put up with oil and dead animals washing up all over our beaches precisely because she was lying…
On the news last night she was at the site of the repair of the Maui pipeline.
Reporter was in regular hard hat and high vis vest (as would be expected).
Parata had a helmet with ear protectors and was wearing a pair of safety goggles like she was intimately involves in the repair!
Talk about poser! Do they now have PR wardrobe consultants with them when they fly in for the photo-ops?
She probably learned that from her boss Gerry. The first thing you do when recovering from a fatal, city destroying earthquake – get a new jacket with CERA embroided on it.
Wardrobe first, bulldozers second.
And i read this morning, in stuff or herald both by Parata. I cant find them again.
The problem with the pipe was ground movement NOT maintence
And
The pictures of the leaking gas posted on u tube were a hoax
Agreed. Thankfully we have affordable general hospital healthcare. However you view Roger Kerr he was an effective advocate for his side. The cancer is another thing: It’s more than likely he would have gone through the mill battling the effects of metastatic melanoma… Condolences to his family.
What I said on Armstrong’s National Party political ad today. Doubt if it will be published though.
“Economical with the truth again!
Like DPF you should have a disclaimer, saying rabid National party supporter.
Labour had to spend to repair the damage done to our national infrastructure and public services by decades of Neo-liberal Government.
No Government would have escaped a deficit with the GFC.
Labour left us in a much better position than the present, borrow, hope and give our assets away at fire sale prices to their future employers. National.
I suppose National cannot really campaign on their real policies though.
Stealing our wealth by reducing wages, giving away money earning assets, killing manufacturing, borrowing to give more money to those who spend it on Hawaii holidays and offshore gambling and making sure they have high paying jobs in finance, when they finally get voted out.”
Simon Power couldn’t even wait that long for his earthly reward.
” National would comfortably govern on its own with 53.5 per cent of decided voters, up 1.5 percentage points on the previous poll, in August.”
and
“Labour has 30.3 per cent support (down 1.2), ”
and in case anyone tries to say that the Rena wasn’t really in view when this poll was taken…
“As well as the Rugby World Cup, events leading up to the polling included the Rena oil spill off Tauranga, a downgrade for New Zealand by two credit rating agencies, and accusations that Mr Key misled the House when he claimed Standard & Poor’s had said another credit downgrade would be more likely if Labour became the Government.”
“The poll of 750 respondents was taken between October 20 and 27.”
750 respondants, does this huge number represent the way a majority of New Zealand is thinking or the number of national suporters found during a week of searching for people who will give the approved reply?.
I was disgusted the other day to hear that up himself Paul Henry Drive on radio live gloating (gloating on the unproven basis G was responsible for Lockerbie) about the murderous war crime of Gadaffi’s death He didn’t leave out the horror of the man being sodomized by some sort of object during the process of his dying. He is a total U$$ toady.
Some facts about the good things Gadaffi did for his people in this article:
“He also wanted Libyans to share in the country’s oil wealth, a notion foreign to America and other Western societies.
Under his 1999 Decision No. 111, all Libyans got free healthcare, education, electricity, water, training, rehabilitation, housing assistance, disability and old-age benefits, interest-free state loans, as well as generous subsidies to study abroad, buy a new car, help couples when they marry, practically free gasoline, and more.
Literacy under Gaddafi rose from 20 – 80%. Libya’s hospitals and private clinics were some of the region’s best. Now they’re in shambles. Some, in fact, were bombed or damage
The young people are well dressed, well fed and well educated….Every Libyan gets free, and often excellent, education, medical and health services. New colleges and hospitals are impressive by any international standard.
All Libyans have a house or a flat, a car, and most have televisions” and other conveniences. “Compared with most citizens of Third World countries, and with many (others), Libyans have it very good indeed,” including decent housing or a rent-free apartment.
Green Book ideology rejects Western-style democracy and predatory capitalism, especially neoliberal exploitation. It’s one of many reasons why Gaddafi was ousted.
He had nothing to do with downing Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Neither did Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. Scottish judges knew he was innocent but were pressured to convict.
Gaddafi never admitted fault. He took responsibility solely to have international sanctions removed. To this day, he and al-Megrahi stand falsely accused. Likely CIA /MI6/and/or Mossad involvement is never mentioned. ”
So is Labour going to announce funding for Len Brown’s train project Monday? Also I am presuming both TV 3 and TV One will release a poll on Sunday and Roy Morgan must be due to drop another poll very soon.
Overthrew a democratically elected Government.
Murdered between 700 thousand and a million of his own citizens to get into power.
Brutally squashed two independence movements. Now engaged in squashing a third.
Keeps about 2/3 of his country in poverty.
Allows foreign companies to repatriate almost 100% of their profits. Especially Western oil companies.
Has the worst environmental record in the Pacific..
Allows abuse of workers in virtual slave labour.
Sends troops in to kill unionists.
Country has unsustainable debt.
Streets of beggars and homeless.
This Dictator of an oil rich country.
Left his country with no external debt.
Gave interest free loans to citizens.
Had Western standards of living.
Increased literacy from 25% to 83%.
Had the Highest Standard of living in Africa.
A proportion of all oil sales was credited to every citizens bank account.
No beggars in the streets and no homeless.
Guess which one was helped into place by the US Government and is supported by other Western Governments, including ours.
Guess which one is considered so bad that we should support his overthrow.
Pity he is not still here to answer for the blighted lives, suicides, poverty, NZ’s heading for the third world, and the other effects, of his and others worship of a mean, spiteful discredited economic religion.
Given that I believe in an afterlife (also in universal salvation), I did a little bit, thinking that he was in for a bit of a shock, as he would have thought himself to have done only good…
This Hobbit themed article has nothing to do with Key other than to say he was given a photo op with his ‘mate’ Jackson. Key isn’t Minister of Arts (why didn’t Finlayson get the photo op?).
I call bs. Also, is that an old photo? Jackson is looking like his old self.
Key and his mates have done nothing for the film industry. Yes, they jumped at the chance to brown-nose Jackson and stick their beaks into an industrial dispute (enjoying your residual checks negotiated for you by fucking unions, Sir Peter?) but they’ve done sweet f-all for the industry.
I still remain completely disgusted with Peter Jackson. It’s really tough on me as I was such a fangirl. On the hobnobbing with celebs theme though, which doesn’t Russel Norman get his sister in law Anna Paquin to do an ad for the Greens? That would be awesome 🙂
Its sad when somebody dies, young or old there are the emotionally attached and the family, so with the death of Roger Kerr whilst I bear his ideology total malice I have sympathy with those who were close to him.
Not so those who carry forward the twisted logic of neo liberalism. In the media there are the likes of Deborah Hill Cone (whose image of too tight jeans in her column frightens the shit out of us)..The late Roger said this of her …“Deborah Hill Cone is one of my favourite journalists. Her cosmopolitan reading habits are unique in the New Zealand media, and she’s generally no slouch in business and economic commentary either”.(aka she read the copy of Atlas by the Sainted Ayn Rand I gave to her)…
Fekk its proof Roger was a lightweight AND its a damnation by faint praise from a suspect source for Debs…..QED
It’s all kicking off in Oz, with Qantas grounding their entire fleet to force the Government’s hand in the industrial dispute. Fairwork Australia meeting in emergency council, Gillard addressing the nation. Thousands of workers locked out, thousands of travellers affected. Amazing!
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Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Today is my birthday and to celebrate I am happily first in and in doing so stopping Pete George from his regular first spot! Shame Rod Fyfe spoiled it! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10762436
Happy birthday Ian!
Happy Birthday Ianupnorth. Have a great day!
Taking a positive spin on that article.. it has given Goff a wonderful opportunity to promote not selling NZ’s assets and to remind people of Labour having to buy Air New Zealand back and fix it after the last attempt to privatise it! Makes Fyfe’s point a little petty don’t you think/? (no disrepsrect to the koro)
My sentiments exactly. Happy birthday.. !
From the article:
Which is to promote an airline, right? Piss off, Fyfe.
Happy Birthday Ian!
I got a mild case of cognitive whiplash reading Fyfe’s logic. I mean here the guy is running an airline that wouldn’t exist if it were not for the previous Labour govt and then he wants to tell us that politics should keep off his precious grass.
Yeah, a perfect illustration of right-wing ideology.
Fyfe is a Paul Henry hiring prick.
I read the rest of his spam email to his unfortunate staff. Turns out Fyfe has a broken finger. He claims it was a boating accident, but I suspect it was PM’s arse related.
LMAO!
Happy Birthday Ianupnorth !
Happy birthday Ian!
Forget Pete George, he would be to dumb to comment on this.
Tax Justice media release
28 October 2011
“The Occupy Movement is protesting the injustice of the world’s 99% having to bear the costs of a financial crisis caused by an elite few,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice spokesperson.
“The best mechanism for making the super-rich 1% pay is a financial transaction tax, or Robin Hood Tax,” says Gunson. “It’s very exciting to see that the global movement for this tax which targets banks, big corporates and financial speculators is growing.”
The Robin Hood Tax international day of action on Saturday 29 October is timed to put pressure on the leaders of the G20 before their summit meeting in Cannes on 3 November. In New Zealand, actions are being organised in Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch.
“Tax Justice has been campaigning over the last year for financial speculation to be taxed. It’s criminal that the profits of speculators go untaxed, while ordinary New Zealanders are taxed every which way,” says Gunson.
The Tax Justice petition signed by 40,000 New Zealanders was presented to Parliament on 16 August. The petition calls for GST to be removed from food and a tax placed on financial speculation instead.
“Politicians in New Zealand need to respond to the global movement and start looking at how we can introduce a Robin Hood Tax in New Zealand,” says Gunson.
Tax Justice would like to see the parties of the left come together on tax policy. “A broad coalition that brings together left parties inside and outside of Parliament, along with unions and other grassroots organisations, could achieve a decisive shift towards a more just fairer tax system,” says Gunson.
“The beauty of financial transaction taxes is that they can target the super-rich who aren’t paying enough tax; it’s almost impossible to avoid; and modern technology makes it a simple and low cost form of tax collection,” says Gunson.
Tax Justice has produced a Fact Sheet on Financial Transactions Taxes and their feasibility for New Zealand. To download PDF click here.
For more information on the Tax Justice campaign go to http://www.nogstonfood.org
For comment, contact:
Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice spokesperson
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz
or
Grant Brookes
Tax Justice spokesperson
021-0532 973
grant_brookes@paradise.net.nz
Grant Brookes will be speaking to the Wellington Occupy movement on the subject of a Robin Hood Tax at 1pm, Saturday 29 October, Civic Square.
It is interesting that neither the slithery one nor Farrar have commented on the respective TV launches last night.
I wonder why?
To be fair, Farrar has posted crossword answers this morning.
Whaleoil has now.
Sort of. He complained about the waste of taxpayer money. I agree wholeheartedly.
The National party effort was a complete waste of time and money. It was that bad I felt a little bit sorry for the National Party. I expected a razzamatazz Crosby Textor polished juggernaut of an effort that would have had Labour reeling. Instead I got this?
If taxpayer money was used to fund this piece of shyte then I agree there should be an inquiry and at least the complete repayment of any money paid.
Third container ship aground off Tauranga. It’s the MV National Party
Pretty damn good…
Occupy Octagon/Dunedin have claimed the council hasn’t been honest with the public or the occupiers.
Council dishonest over Armistice Day – who’s really being dishonest?
It’s not ‘Occupy’ that is being deceitful and dishonest.
It is the organisations that have inserted themselves into it and generated a platform themselves and elevated their their agendas and their programmes over any message/ action that might otherwise have emerged from a genuine dialogue between people ‘coming together’ over stuff they are rightfully pissed off about.
I wrote about all of ths here. http://thestandard.org.nz/over-or-into-the-wall/
Thanks Bill, you are right, I know quite a few people (including myself) that thought Occupy would be a great opportunity to make a difference regardless of affiliations but are quite pissed off about what’s happened in NZ.
I know Green party supporters who are very sympathetic to the theoretical aims of Occupy who deliberately kept their politics out of it, and they amongst many others have been shat on.
Once again in agreement with Bill and suggest we take inspiration from the fact that today Egypt will once again inhabit Tarhir Sq, in solidarity with Occupywallstreet and oocupyoakland. It’s international, so whatever happens in Dunedin, although its a missed opportunity here, it is insignificant in the bigger picture.
This person writes a brilliant first hand account of an awakening in Oakland…
http://www.theawl.com/2011/10/the-livestream-ended-how-i-got-off-my-computer-and-into-the-streets-at-occupy-oakland
This may happen here yet, depending on how it grows and articulates itself abroad.
Ali Mustafa will be live tweeting from Egypt. Follow him for real news.
twitter:@_fbtm
I can’t post the results of the latest herald digi-poll in OPEN MIKE???
Poor handling of Oil Spill what?
As the article notes, there was a spike in support from rugger loving Aucklanders in the days before the final. I’d have never predicted that … sigh.
Well that pretty much destroys (yet again) the credibility of those making wild predictions of National’s collapse following the Rena incident. Given the desperately dishonest efforts of Labour & the Greens to somehow blame it on John Key, I had expected the Govt to take a hit. However, it seems that the public has seen through that.
Hopefully, the dirty campaigning has ended, and the campaigns – and the polls – will focus on substantive policy and issues.
“Hopefully, the dirty campaigning has ended, and the campaigns – and the polls – will focus on substantive policy and issues.”
Agree, entirely, Queenie. Do let us know when National make the switch to substantive policy and issues, because on last night’s effort, relying on John Key won’t do it for them this time round.
Well that pretty much destroys (yet again) the credibility of those making wild predictions of National’s collapse following the Rena incident.
No-one here predicted National’s collapse. What we did suggest is that it could well be an ‘inflexion point’. Putting words into other people’s mouths is very bad form.
National have been very, very fortunate that the Rena has held together against expectations , or that there hasn’t been another big storm causing a final break-up. Because that is all that has prevented far more oil landing on the beaches of the BOP.
And if that had happened the focus would have inevitably come back onto that first 100 hours after the grounding when it is now blatantly obvious more could have and should have been done. That and the RWC, which also was a very fortunate distraction for the government.
No-one here predicted National’s collapse.
I suggest you look at the numerous Rena-related posts on this site. Here’s just one example:
What we did suggest is that it could well be an ‘inflexion point’. Putting words into other people’s mouths is very bad form.
Well, it seems I am addressed by the official spokesman for this entire site, which makes it ironic that you accuse me of putting words into other people’s mouths. Please tell me, what words did I put into other people’s mouths?
[lprent: RL is both an author and moderator. There are no official spokespeople – just a grumpy sysop who tends to prefer to bite the head off media rather than prancing around being a glory hound.
There were posts and comments that said it was likely that Rena would drop National support (not a collapse). A single small poll (750 wtf?) taken while the issue was still unfolding is hardly likely to show that.
RL is right. You are wrong. Bullshitting about the site as a whole is a Darwin award infraction. Trying to tell authors what they did not say is a dangerous trait. I very nearly gave you an educational ban. But I am feeling lazy this morning. ]
Qsf dictionary
Loose is to collapse
I trust it is not to trifle with the sysop to state that I do not know what I supposedly told an author they didn’t say, and nor do I know what words I supposedly put in anyone’s mouth.
All I did was assert what had been said, and then provide a quote in support when challenged. RL said “No-one here predicted National’s collapse”, and I posted a quote – by an author – to refute that. I don’t see how providing a quote constitutes “bullshitting about the site as a whole”.
On further review, perhaps RL does not consider that the comment “keep losing votes” to fall within the definition of “collapse” – the term I used. If that is the objection, then I would say that on dictionary definitions the term collapse is a perfectly valid term to describe comments such as “losing votes”, especially as a result of losing votes following a sudden, unexpected event. From the definition of “collapse”:
On further review, perhaps RL does not consider that the comment “keep losing votes” to fall within the definition of “collapse” – the term I used.
Just to be clear… no I do not. A collapse would be something far more dramatic, like plunging within a week or two from 60% ratings to below 40% for instance. None of the authors or commenters who wrote about the Rena were saying anything like that.
What many people did suggest was that it was possibly a turning point, from which the trend for National might start to slowly loose ground.
Rather large difference.
“I didn’t ram that ship into the reef!!!” 😛
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19473099@N05/6238850035/in/photostream
Good example of what I am talking about.
You’re a rat mate, so you better start swimming.
Swimming from what? What ship do you think I am aboard?
Was I hearing things – was listening to the news on the radio this morning and heard the latest Horizon poll has Labour up in the polls and the Nats down. Cant find anything about it online,
maybe I was dreaming but it sounded quite impressive.
It came out a week ago, and suggests that the Nat’s can’t make it without Banks coming through in Epsom.
The highlights include a massive 0.4% support for United Follicles and ACT and the Maori party only marginally better off.
National has 36.8% of registered voters (down 2.7% since September 22)
Labour 25.7% (-1.1%)
Green Party 11.6% (up 0.9%)
New Zealand First 6.2% (- 1.1%)
Mana Party 2.3% (+ 0.3%)
Act 3.4% (down 1.4% from September and down from a high of 5.3% in May shortly after Don Brash became leader)
Maori Party 1.7% (+0.7%)
United Future 0.4% ( 0% in September)
Conservative Party of New Zealand 2.2% (new party, first time measured)
New Citizens 0%
Other parties 1.2%
I likewise found the Herald Digi-Poll a little difficult to believe in the face a poor six weeks for National.Although 10.6% of respondants were uncommited or 79.5 people (!). The election will of course be a major proving ground between the methodologies of the regular polls against the newcomer Horizon.
Someone else who thinks that the fact that we have the lowest rate of senior poverty in the OECD is unacceptable
No doubt our neo-liberal cougar has a cushy pension fund stashed away somewhere, where as others, if she had her way would have to sell everything they own in order to get some subsistence in their retirement.
More good news for Labour, compulsory Kiwisaver is a winner.
And it looks like we like MMP.
rod fyfe thinks because he once flew a fighter jet then ipso facto he knows everything.
National want to make it hard for the poor to strike for better wages and conditions…..
For “If you want to frustrate productivity, be prepared for it to cost you something.” read…
“In order to conquer, we are dividing the work force into those who can strike and those who can’t!”
A whole new class of worker!
Hekia Parata – Asshole of the Week Award
Not only did we have to put up with Hekia Parata’s bold faced lies that New Zealand had the resources and manpower to deal with an oil spill the size of Deepwater Horizon… we now have to put up with oil and dead animals washing up all over our beaches precisely because she was lying…
On the news last night she was at the site of the repair of the Maui pipeline.
Reporter was in regular hard hat and high vis vest (as would be expected).
Parata had a helmet with ear protectors and was wearing a pair of safety goggles like she was intimately involves in the repair!
Talk about poser! Do they now have PR wardrobe consultants with them when they fly in for the photo-ops?
She probably learned that from her boss Gerry. The first thing you do when recovering from a fatal, city destroying earthquake – get a new jacket with CERA embroided on it.
Wardrobe first, bulldozers second.
And i read this morning, in stuff or herald both by Parata. I cant find them again.
The problem with the pipe was ground movement NOT maintence
And
The pictures of the leaking gas posted on u tube were a hoax
Roger Kerr has just died.
Edit: I have removed some of the nasty stuff out because regardless of his political beliefs, he was still a human being.
Sympathies to his family.
I wonder if he learnt in time that you can’t take material wealth with you and that dollars will not help smooth your way into the after life.
Agreed. Thankfully we have affordable general hospital healthcare. However you view Roger Kerr he was an effective advocate for his side. The cancer is another thing: It’s more than likely he would have gone through the mill battling the effects of metastatic melanoma… Condolences to his family.
What I said on Armstrong’s National Party political ad today. Doubt if it will be published though.
“Economical with the truth again!
Like DPF you should have a disclaimer, saying rabid National party supporter.
Labour had to spend to repair the damage done to our national infrastructure and public services by decades of Neo-liberal Government.
No Government would have escaped a deficit with the GFC.
Labour left us in a much better position than the present, borrow, hope and give our assets away at fire sale prices to their future employers. National.
I suppose National cannot really campaign on their real policies though.
Stealing our wealth by reducing wages, giving away money earning assets, killing manufacturing, borrowing to give more money to those who spend it on Hawaii holidays and offshore gambling and making sure they have high paying jobs in finance, when they finally get voted out.”
Simon Power couldn’t even wait that long for his earthly reward.
The Rena disaster will cause National to drop in the polls……NEK MINNIT….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10762430
” National would comfortably govern on its own with 53.5 per cent of decided voters, up 1.5 percentage points on the previous poll, in August.”
and
“Labour has 30.3 per cent support (down 1.2), ”
and in case anyone tries to say that the Rena wasn’t really in view when this poll was taken…
“As well as the Rugby World Cup, events leading up to the polling included the Rena oil spill off Tauranga, a downgrade for New Zealand by two credit rating agencies, and accusations that Mr Key misled the House when he claimed Standard & Poor’s had said another credit downgrade would be more likely if Labour became the Government.”
“The poll of 750 respondents was taken between October 20 and 27.”
Winning the RWC does not seemed to have helped Key’s polling much. Imagine if Donald’s kick had missed?
750 respondants, does this huge number represent the way a majority of New Zealand is thinking or the number of national suporters found during a week of searching for people who will give the approved reply?.
Typical reply when your team is losing is to blame it on who does the polling, who was polled, or the sample size.
I gaurantee that if the result had showed a gain for labour you wouldn’t even be questioning the sample size.
Remember….many on the left were saying that the Rena was “Key’s, ‘Katrina'” and that the Nat’s would suffer in the polls.
That they have gone up shows the most people realise that this was just left wing spin.
Interesting, Nothing matters until four weeks from now.
I was disgusted the other day to hear that up himself Paul Henry Drive on radio live gloating (gloating on the unproven basis G was responsible for Lockerbie) about the murderous war crime of Gadaffi’s death He didn’t leave out the horror of the man being sodomized by some sort of object during the process of his dying. He is a total U$$ toady.
Some facts about the good things Gadaffi did for his people in this article:
“He also wanted Libyans to share in the country’s oil wealth, a notion foreign to America and other Western societies.
Under his 1999 Decision No. 111, all Libyans got free healthcare, education, electricity, water, training, rehabilitation, housing assistance, disability and old-age benefits, interest-free state loans, as well as generous subsidies to study abroad, buy a new car, help couples when they marry, practically free gasoline, and more.
Literacy under Gaddafi rose from 20 – 80%. Libya’s hospitals and private clinics were some of the region’s best. Now they’re in shambles. Some, in fact, were bombed or damage
The young people are well dressed, well fed and well educated….Every Libyan gets free, and often excellent, education, medical and health services. New colleges and hospitals are impressive by any international standard.
All Libyans have a house or a flat, a car, and most have televisions” and other conveniences. “Compared with most citizens of Third World countries, and with many (others), Libyans have it very good indeed,” including decent housing or a rent-free apartment.
Green Book ideology rejects Western-style democracy and predatory capitalism, especially neoliberal exploitation. It’s one of many reasons why Gaddafi was ousted.
He had nothing to do with downing Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Neither did Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. Scottish judges knew he was innocent but were pressured to convict.
Gaddafi never admitted fault. He took responsibility solely to have international sanctions removed. To this day, he and al-Megrahi stand falsely accused. Likely CIA /MI6/and/or Mossad involvement is never mentioned. ”
refer link: http://www.rense.com/general95/hyd.htm
So is Labour going to announce funding for Len Brown’s train project Monday? Also I am presuming both TV 3 and TV One will release a poll on Sunday and Roy Morgan must be due to drop another poll very soon.
I can confidently predict gc that labour will make no such announcement on Monday.
This Dictator of an oil rich country.
Overthrew a democratically elected Government.
Murdered between 700 thousand and a million of his own citizens to get into power.
Brutally squashed two independence movements. Now engaged in squashing a third.
Keeps about 2/3 of his country in poverty.
Allows foreign companies to repatriate almost 100% of their profits. Especially Western oil companies.
Has the worst environmental record in the Pacific..
Allows abuse of workers in virtual slave labour.
Sends troops in to kill unionists.
Country has unsustainable debt.
Streets of beggars and homeless.
This Dictator of an oil rich country.
Left his country with no external debt.
Gave interest free loans to citizens.
Had Western standards of living.
Increased literacy from 25% to 83%.
Had the Highest Standard of living in Africa.
A proportion of all oil sales was credited to every citizens bank account.
No beggars in the streets and no homeless.
Guess which one was helped into place by the US Government and is supported by other Western Governments, including ours.
Guess which one is considered so bad that we should support his overthrow.
RIP Roger Kerr
I cannot bring myself to feel sorry for him.
Pity he is not still here to answer for the blighted lives, suicides, poverty, NZ’s heading for the third world, and the other effects, of his and others worship of a mean, spiteful discredited economic religion.
Wasn’t he one of the insider traders in SCF also?
Nobody said you had to feel sorry for him.
I felt the same way when Ed Hillary passed, I just did not care given his long support of the Labour government.
Given that I believe in an afterlife (also in universal salvation), I did a little bit, thinking that he was in for a bit of a shock, as he would have thought himself to have done only good…
WTF is Key doing in this photo?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10762437
This Hobbit themed article has nothing to do with Key other than to say he was given a photo op with his ‘mate’ Jackson. Key isn’t Minister of Arts (why didn’t Finlayson get the photo op?).
I call bs. Also, is that an old photo? Jackson is looking like his old self.
Oh I see Stuff covered it also. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5871787/Key-adds-stardust-to-campaign-trail
Key and his mates have done nothing for the film industry. Yes, they jumped at the chance to brown-nose Jackson and stick their beaks into an industrial dispute (enjoying your residual checks negotiated for you by fucking unions, Sir Peter?) but they’ve done sweet f-all for the industry.
I still remain completely disgusted with Peter Jackson. It’s really tough on me as I was such a fangirl. On the hobnobbing with celebs theme though, which doesn’t Russel Norman get his sister in law Anna Paquin to do an ad for the Greens? That would be awesome 🙂
Jackson and key sold out the film workers for the love of money.
Key and national are traitors, they have made that plain with their plans for this country if we are stupid enough to vote them back in.
Vote for Change has confirmed that it wants to go back to an unrepresentative model for elections.
JK with Sir Peter, Knighted for services to Warner Brothers
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/full-coverage/chogm-2011/a/-/article/10950129/new-zealand-pm-snubs-queen-for-hobbits/
never seena wingnut flic in my life.
they dont do it for me.
I like stuff with balls.
Its sad when somebody dies, young or old there are the emotionally attached and the family, so with the death of Roger Kerr whilst I bear his ideology total malice I have sympathy with those who were close to him.
Not so those who carry forward the twisted logic of neo liberalism. In the media there are the likes of Deborah Hill Cone (whose image of too tight jeans in her column frightens the shit out of us)..The late Roger said this of her …“Deborah Hill Cone is one of my favourite journalists. Her cosmopolitan reading habits are unique in the New Zealand media, and she’s generally no slouch in business and economic commentary either”.(aka she read the copy of Atlas by the Sainted Ayn Rand I gave to her)…
Fekk its proof Roger was a lightweight AND its a damnation by faint praise from a suspect source for Debs…..QED
It’s all kicking off in Oz, with Qantas grounding their entire fleet to force the Government’s hand in the industrial dispute. Fairwork Australia meeting in emergency council, Gillard addressing the nation. Thousands of workers locked out, thousands of travellers affected. Amazing!
Radio NZ finally decided to mention that this morning… I had already read about it in the Italian press first.. 🙁
Appalling!