(hugh grant is not that keen on boris johnson – eh..?..)
'Hugh Grant
@HackedOffHugh
· Aug 29
You will not fuck with my children’s future. You will not destroy the freedoms my grandfather fought two world wars to defend. Fuck off you over-promoted rubber bath toy. Britain is revolted by you and you little gang of masturbatory prefects'.
So HG is all worked up because The Boris has decreed that parliament will sit 3 days LESS in October than originally planned. ( its party conference break time)
He fails to see the the bonus of a new session of parliament, after the Queens speech its standard for MPs to vote on a no confidence motion on the government.
If its a majority against its bye bye Johnson.
They can even do that next week. but its a bit more difficult procedurally
Its more ore that it will end in a general election. Luckily for all right thinking people labour is lead by corbyn who is unelectable- this it will result in happy Boris with an increased majority.
I saw an item on either BBC or the Guardian yesterday where Johnston was poised to make an announcement on Education budget – or some such subject. Maybe a distraction from Brexit? I think that might be what HG is responding to.
I think you are all missing the bigger picture going forward that Hugh is foaming about. People seem so fixated on procedures that they forget about the effects on the UK politicians and financials treating the country's doings as if it was a reality show, dropping off the unwanted. Is anyone a follower of the Alex cartoons I have mentioned before. He is such a twisted character, always sorting out a way of profiting from any setbacks, wholely money and status oriented. The creators are so clever they will cut themselves.
A corporate raider like Brierley would undoubtedly approve Boris Johnson's raid on Britain in the best traditions of Caesar, Scandinavians, and Normans.
Just seen in our local paper requests for nominations for the national party for candidates for the the West Coast/Tasman electorate for the 2020 election.
Does national do this every election cycle, it's just I've never noticed it before. Or is it an indication that nat members are unhappy with their current list MP who stands in that electorate?
I wish they would do it here in Tauranga as we have the one clinging on to everything like a limpet – it saying that though I had a local Labour branch one yesterday outlining the local body candidates, all of them not specifically how they were backed and many say they are "independents" so a lot of careful reading to do to see who to back.
There are obvious reasons why I wouldn't know that but it is rather a surprise I haven't seen a thing in the news to suggest, at this stage anyway, it would be anything other than the incumbent.
Anyway I hopped onto another roll when it was open last year just because I could and because my candidate vote will now matter.
Neither did I but found that press release in a quick google. I have now had a better look at the National Party Constitution and Rules etc and the latter are quite specific in the process for selection of candidates – in particular Rules 86 -118.
Rule 87(c) specifies in a general way that the Electorate Committee must advertise for candidate and Rule 92 is then much more specific, ie:
Electorate Committees shall give to members not less than 14 days notice, by newspaper advertisements and other means, of the place, date and time fixed for the receipt of nominations. In the case of by-elections, the notice shall be not less than 7 days. In special circumstances these time limits may, with the approval of the Regional Council, be reduced.
Lots more specific information about the full process in the Constitution and Rules here for anyone interested … (I'm not except on an academic level, LOL)
Last night The Chairman raised the issue of the state of affairs in our Emergency Departments.
He raised a couple of good points: lack of insightful questioning by journalists and a perceived lack of action by the minister.
Because it was TC a pile-on ensued.
The issue remains, causing stress for staff and the public and a high turnover of workers.
From a senior emergency nurse in Mid Central DHB area I have 4 things that can be done alleviate the strain.
A mandatory patient care ratio of 3 patients per nurse (currently it can get up to 6, and some can be very sick).
Increase the capacity on the surgical, medical and orthopedic wards by 5 beds each.
On the night shifts increase the number of doctors on from 3 to 4.
Put 10 more beds in the department. At Palmy, they are in a newish department, one that was woefully under prepared for the growing needs of its population.
Yes, it costs money (cough cough surpluses) so it seems to be a lack of will is where the problems start.
"All enrolled children aged 13 and under won’t be charged a fee for a standard visit with a doctor or nurse, or:
an after-hours fee at participating clinics or pharmacies
the regular $5 prescription fee.
Putting the extra money where its needed is better than funding the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
The Chairman is just pushing the employment case for Junior doctors .
As for Nurses in the ED , maybe some people are better suited for the steady rythyms of wards or clinics rather than the busy peaks and slow troughs of the ED
When Jacinda was vying to win the elections she touted 8 dollar GP fees while National were promising 18 dollar visits.
Labour have yet to deliver on that $8 charge.
Knowing more resources to Primary Care is needed but failing to deliver it's no wonder ED's are overflowing and doctors are speaking out.
As a result, clearly Labour haven't put a sufficient amount of funding where it is initially needed. Moreover, due to Nationals under funding haven't put a sufficient amount into hospitals themselves. Keeping them on the back foot and under pressure while ensuring (by failing to deliver on cheaper GP visits) growing numbers, thus further pressure with larger workloads. Putting lives at greater risk.
I'm not merely pushing the employment case for junior doctors. As indicated last night, I was highlighting there is an actual problem which the Minster hasn't denied and in fact acknowledged.
If this was National doing this, I'm sure the outcry here would be massive, but as it is occurring under a Labour led Government it seems it's OK and I'm the problem for highlighting it. If we want better, we can't continue to defend Labour's shortfalls. We need to put the acid on them and let them know we won't accept their shortcomings and failure to deliver.
Excerpts from The 'lefty" "more left than most" Chairman's comment today @3.1.1 – from one comment FFS. If is wasn’t for The Chariman‘s self-declared ‘friend of the left‘ status, one could be forgiven for forming the impression that they were in cahoots with the National party!
"Jacinda… touted"
"Labour have yet to deliver"
"failing to deliver"
"clearly Labour haven't put a sufficient amount of funding where it is initially needed"
"[Labour] haven't put a sufficient amount into hospitals"
"Keeping them [hospitals] on the back foot and under pressure"
"failing to deliver"
"ensuring… growing numbers, thus further pressure with larger workloads"
"Putting lives at greater risk."
"Labour's shortfalls"
"put the acid on them [Labour]"
"their [Labour's] shortcomings and failure to deliver"
Got no answers, Drowsy M. Kram. Funny that, because neither have Labour so it seems.
Just because I (and others such as a number in the health profession) are concerned about this and are seeking answers doesn't mean we are part of National.
And Labour need to understand this. People (i.e. voters) have a genuine concern about this. Any one of us could at anytime get caught up in this, having our lives put at risk.
Claiming they/we are Nats does Labour no favours. Hence you are doing Labour no favours taking this attack approach.
And seeing as National played a big part in creating this mess, thus risk, their press release is a bit rich and a joke if it weren't so serious.
Don't know – it's a curious coincidence. If I wanted to avoid suspicion, I'd wait more than one day before replicating a National party spokesperson's talking points here. So maybe he is a genuine "lefty" – but there's so little evidence.
I'm sure you are not just interested in what should happen, "The Chairman", but also in what needs to happen to enable more money to be spent. After all, we all know that money does not grow on trees. Now there are a few things that do have to be considered first. You have talked about a "promise" by Jacinda; I am not familiar with it, but you have not provided any evidence that it was indeed a promise – remember that Labour was not elected to govern alone – budgetary aims may well be influenced by other partners in government.The second is that we are only two years into a three year term – clearly any government will assess priorities, as after all, money is not limitless. Now we do know that a lot has been allocated to the health budget – directly settlement of nurses pay negotiations, and some advances on doctors pay. Also there are payments for mould found in some hospital wards – the millions required had to come from somewhere. Then there have been costs in increasing staffing in various areas, but perhaps particularly in mental health, and costs of children;s visits to GPs have been reduced. The recent announcement of meals in schools is relatively small, but could be regarded as assisting both health outcomes as well as education goals. So the question back to you "The Chairman," is where is the money coming from? We can be thankful that National's tax cuts were not allowed to reduce government income; and it is a shame that capital gains taxes were left unchanged. Overall there has been a big increase in health spending over that of the previous government, doubtless funded in part by not having given the cuts to income tax planned by National, and also by increased tax receipts by the improvement in business profits following the increase to minimum wages and benefits. So while your question may be reasonable, it is partly answered by saying that priorities will have affected different areas of spending, but also it is fair to ask you, and the National Party spokesperson raising similar issues – what spending would you defer to achieve this aim more quickly, or how would you raise additional money to enable the higher level of spending?
This is a major issue that is putting lives at risk, therefore I'm sure there is more out there that hold concerns over this. Leading me to suspect a good number here get put off by the detractors and don't want to come under attack from this mob running wild. Thus, remain silent.
It's not their looks or nationality that is of concern, Marty. It's that they are shutting down genuine political discussion putting others off from partaking.
Witnessing the pile-on that ensued turns others off IMO. Why do you think no one but gsays thus far has partaken (in support) in this serious discussion.
Do you really believe no one on this site has a concern about this apart from us two?
Never fear, The Chair is here – and ‘concern’ is building.
Since the vast majority of NZers rely on the NZ public health service for their medical needs, I would think that the vast majority of NZers would have some interest in the state of that service and whether it has been and is being adequately funded/resourced.
I remain unconvinced that the current government are doing an awful job on public health, but this critical service certainly faces increased challenges.
This the second day running this ‘topic’. I gave it a shot yesterday on Daily review but it was an exercise in futility. All I can see is your anti-Labour bias that comes through strongly in almost every comment of yours. Others can see this too and hence the ‘pile on’.
For some reason you cannot accept that your MO is the main obstacle for serious discussion.
This the second day running this ‘topic’. I gave it a shot yesterday on Daily review but it was an exercise in futility.
Ditto.
All I seem to get from you is defence of Labour's shortcomings.
With Labour failing to live up to their namesake coupled with all their shortcomings, of course I have a bias against them. They no longer really represent the left and haven't really since 84. They haven't even apologised for that, let alone done much to correct it. You get more real lefties over at the daily blog than you get here.
Instead of piling in on me for highlighting Labours failures (my MO) you lot (if you are genuine lefties) should be piling in with me against them to help bring about change for the better.
Do you support and want this risk of life in our health system? Doctors are speaking up, why aren't the left here joining in?
All the people on the left I know do have a bias against Labour apart from the so-called left here. What is up with that?
As for Rosemary's unsubstantiated, bold assertion the other day, I have a post coming that will clearly show she is incorrect.
This place is like the twilight zone, where poverty has nothing to do with suicide and doctors speaking out about lives being put at risk musters no support, bloody unreal. Come on you lot, surely you lot are better than this.
All I seem to get from you is defence of Labour's shortcomings. [my italics]
Assuming that was directed at me, you are incorrect and have missed my point(s). I was not defending Labour – and with you it always is just Labour – against your criticism, I was criticising your criticism of Labour, the way you go about it, i.e. your style.
At last, we have some clarity about your bias, which is helpful indeed. Unfortunately, your bias is so strong, it has become a binary of polar opposites of either pro- or anti-Labour. Many (of us) are still somewhere in between these two extremes and view it as a spectrum rather.
So, please don’t box in people based on whether you judge them pro- or anti-Labour (or Left or Right, Black or White, et cetera). It gets you nowhere, evidently.
The rest of your comment is trying to reduce “[t]his place”, i.e. the people who write here, to a collection of simplistic souls without any acknowledgment of nuance and context. This may fit and suit your one-eyed single-minded view of (NZ) politics and this political blog but it is grossly inaccurate and does the TS community no justice.
So, instead of trying to pull or force us into your rabbit hole you may want to reconsider your contribution and presence here because something has got to give.
It may be there – the anti Labour bias – he never seems to make criticisms of the Gnats. But most of his critiques are pretty solid, unlike the run of trolls. I think he's playing the game functionally, which is more than can be said for Shadrach, James, or the entire Opposition come to that.
The Chairman has racked up 1000s of comments on The Standard.
If he could cite half a dozen of his comments made during the last long period of National-led ‘governance’ that were critical of National party policies/MPs, then I'd be less triggered by his modus operandi.
But he can't, because those comments don't exist.
Just to be clear: 1000s of comments by The Chairman on this site during that period, ALL exclusively critical of left-leaning opposition parties/MPs. His comments here comprise a broken record, IMHO.
But he doesn't commit the major troll faults – putting words in people's mouths, RW wishful thinking (except for a few spurious criticisms that won't fly), outright lying, or personal abuse.
He finds pointed but often real grounds to critique the coalition – there is a place for it.
Again, I disagree. Misinterpreting other’s words coupled to a strong bias can lead to comments that essentially have the same effect as deliberately putting words in people’s mouths. The Chairman does come close to this, on occasion, and I moderated (warned) him recently for telling people how they should or should not feel about something they disagreed on with him. I don’t believe he does these things deliberately, unlike malicious trolls, because he would have been long gone if that were the case.
You see, I don’t want him gone here, I want him to change his communication style that he seems so fond of …
As far as I am concerned, The Chairman can criticise the Government all he likes, hold them to account, and foster serious debate here. But he’s not accomplishing that if he keeps up his style!
This happens all the time! When the Government does something wrong or fails to do something right or at all in the eyes ofThe Chairman, it will trigger an attack on Labour and on Labour only. Generally. Often.
Although he does occasionally offer good points, the overall impact of his comments is heavily geared towards negative and they kill any serious discussion. Thus, in practice, the impact is as bad as of trolls.
The sad thing is though, and I give The Chairman the benefit of doubt, he does not intend to troll us but to force (?) the Government to do (much) better, if I may paraphrase The Chairman. Unfortunately, his MO is largely counter-productive to the cause he wants to promote …
@Incognito fair enough – sorry if I queered the pitch. I do think TC overdoes it, with consequent loss of gravitas, but some of his stuff is surprisingly good.
Thank you for the useful feedback, Stuart, and no need to apologise for that.
I’m trying to look at the bigger picture and figure out whether and how, on the balance of their comments, a commenter is or makes a positive contribution to serious and robust debate on this site or not. If not, I’d like find a way to improve the situation so that we all can reap the benefit of their contribution. I believe everyone has got something to offer and some commenters blow me out of the water at times (in a good way) …
Witnessing the pile-on that ensued turns others off IMO. Why do you think no one but gsays thus far has partaken (in support) in this serious discussion.
Personally and as a moderator watching patterns of behaviour (yours and others'), it's very obvious that a big reason others don't partake is because your style of arguing is incredibly frustrating to engage with. I don't like the tone of the pile on and will keep an eye on that, but ime generally they happen because regulars in an online community are at the end of their patience with someone behaving badly.
This has been a long standing problem with how you present your arguments.
As a suggestion, let’s do an experiment. You choose a new pseudonym and start commenting with a clean sheet (track record). If you get no traction with serious discussion on your comments, we could assume that the TS community does not agree with you and/or that your MO is the reason. To suggest that only hardened Labour sycophants frequent TS who won’t want to hear anything bad about Labour is pushing it but you’re free to have that opinion and stick with it, if you must. In fact, there are quite a number of commenters here that are less enamoured with Labour.
Yes, your comments are idiosyncratic but it never seems to occur to you that your style could be the issue. I thought I’d give you a suggestion to overcome the stalemate but you stubbornly refuse to change your ways. In fact, you ignore your role in any pile on saying:
I don’t accept that at all.
However, you do follow immediately with this question:
What exactly is wrong with the way I present my arguments in your mind?
Indeed, we have been over this so many times and nothing changes.
His constant barking-at-every-passing-car and relentless negativity (without proposing alternative solutions) is problematic and his hyper-critical, carping style is a major turn-off with voters.
I am not suggesting you should not comment here or criticise the Coalition Government (not just Labour). Though I am suggesting that you change how you do these things. It is a subtle difference in the way you communicate the same thing.
FWIW, I do believe you genuinely consider yourself a leftie. However, this does nothing for your MO here.
Is it? I thought I just described a dynamic I am observing that involves multiple people in a community.
"Next you''l be saying it is better for the site to remove me."
The site is a machine, have a look at the Policy and hope Lynn isn't reading the comments.
What can remove you is moderation, and that is done by real live people. You've now had two moderators give you feedback and do that with the courtesy of comment rather than bolded moderation. I'm not aware of anyone saying you should be removed from the site.
Where banning tends to happen is when someone is causing blatant problems for the site owners (eg posting something defamatory), or causing problems for the community or authors (see the bit in the Policy about tone and exclusion, also flaming), or causing problems for moderators (wasting our time, or behaving in ways that use up our time).
"What exactly is wrong with the way I present my arguments in your mind?"
We've been through this too many times in the past for me to spend more time explaining it. What I'm not seeing is you taking *any responsibility for your part in the dynamic. When I see that change I'll be more willing to engage.
If you genuinely want to not have a negative impact here (I'm not talking about your politics), then try listening to what people are already saying about how you debate.
TC was using it for political gain to blame Labour.
There is serious need for more nurses, residents, and specialists. There is serious need for more space in ED around the country. There is serious need for better facilities in those spaces – from management systems to radiology. There is serious need for ward space to admit patients from ED. There is serious need for reviewing whether or not we really want residents working 18 hour shifts, or paying off $80k loans while they do it.
There is serious need for increasing access to primary health care so people don't end up at ED.
As do I but I already raised yesterday that the govt has commissioned a major health system change process, so what can we reasonably expect them to do in the meantime before they know where to best put the investment?
It seems likely to be in primary care rather than more big hospitals, and hopefully in proper joined-up IT systems rather than only more people and machines that go ping.
"so what can we reasonably expect them to do in the meantime before they know where to best put the investment?"
From a senior emergency nurse in Mid Central DHB area I have 4 things that can be done alleviate the strain.
A mandatory patient care ratio of 3 patients per nurse (currently it can get up to 6, and some can be very sick).
Increase the capacity on the surgical, medical and orthopedic wards by 5 beds each.
On the night shifts increase the number of doctors on from 3 to 4.
Put 10 more beds in the department. At Palmy, they are in a newish department, one that was woefully under prepared for the growing needs of its population.
That is straight forward, simple to introduce solution for a local hospital that can happen in very short time, before the current review meanders to its conclusions.
I'm sure most issues in the health system are impacted by inadequate funding (and managerial approaches, I've heard of some really daft stuff). I was meaning more that the govt can't really do much about the situation at your local hospital in terms of staffing and capacity, that would need to be part of the funding round.
Workforce planning is handled nationally but yes any extra budget would have to be allocated through the DHBs, PHOs and NGOs who fund and provide health services. Alphabet soup. 🙂
Which takes us back to the fiscal responsibility pledge, which was part of getting elected in the first place.
NZ did not elect a revolutionary government. It elected an incrementalist change government, with a significant social conservative streak and fiscal constraints.
You want more change? Get enough people to vote so we have a labgrn government.
Which takes us back to the fiscal responsibility pledge, which was part of getting elected in the first place.
While their fiscal responsibility pledge has curtailed them somewhat so has their unwillingness to tax the top 1%.
Additionally, it also comes down to spending priorities. $20 billion on defence in a wellbeing budget doesn't bode well when New Zealanders lives are being put at risk in our hospitals.
No, don't try to play government departments off against each other. NZDF saves lives as well, and protects our EEZ. So does housingNZ, while we're at it. Surprise surprise, everything is underfunded. Has been for years if not decades. This isn't going to be fixed in three years, even if funds were unlimited.
No, don't try to play government departments off against each other.
It's about prioritisation of expenditure and what (in a wellbeing budget) will better increase our wellbeing. $20 billion being spent on defence isn't going to do anything for the wellbeing of your average New Zealander.
And seeing as we agree there has been massive under funding, clearly that money needs to be spent here on improving the deficit thus our wellbeing, even if it doesn't go far enough in 3 years. It's a far better start than blowing it on defence.
In an alternate reality you're complaining that our severeignty and ability to honour international agreements are compromised because NZDF equipment is falling apart and the government is doing nothing about it.
You have some very unreal expectations where this government, given it's composition, is concerned. McF has it correct, in that if you (we) want more socially conscious governance, you (we) have to vote for it.
Having said all that, and even though we're not getting the type of outcomes we may want, life is considerably better than it was/would be, under a national party led regime. Remember what that was like?
2 years is never going to be enough time to reverse 9 bollock ones, so instead of the $8 jobs, I'll settle for the $18, down from $45 doctor visits I use to have and wait for the country to mandate any sweeping changes most of us genuine left voters want but realise can't happen and retain electability without one.
On a personal note, I still don't believe you're very left at all.
If you (we) want more socially conscious governance, you (we) have to vote for it.
We did. National are out but unfortunately a number of their policies remain (such as the defence spend and no CGT)
Now that Jacinda is in charge she changed their stance (opposed to Little's position) and decided to blow the funding on defence. Moreover, through away a CGT (delivering on National’s promise in Labour's year of delivery) that would have produced a massive increase in tax revenue. It was only forecast to be tax neutral for the first 5 years.
No we didn't, we almost did, but have to rely on NZ1st to take over the reins.
Next time, without the need for Winston, things could get much better for the left as a genuine mandate would have been given.
Change the numbers in that new coalition to 60:40 red/green, instead of 90:10 and the mandate for real change, from the people, would be undeniably one to turn left and fast.
2 years is never going to be enough time to reverse 9 bollock ones,
You're surely not forgetting the nine bollock ones before the last nine bollock ones?
Simply put, undoing the last two decades of 'let the shit trickle down' policies is going to take more than the aspirational SSDD twaddle this lot is going to be remembered for.
The mood was right for real transformation…boat missed, ship sailed.
Without appearing selfish, I did alright out of HC's term in office. Student free loan, a job starting at $10 an hour which was enough to live on and start a family, then a 100% mortgage with kiwi bank when the family thing didn't work out as intended.
Compared to the near 20 years of Thatcher and Major I had before Helen, it was fucking dream.
This is the thing about Labour. They *do do good things too. This is why I disagree with the line that they're the same as National. They're really not.
Yep, of course they're not. Sure they're nowhere near perfect, and far from the old union days, flat caps and full on socialism, but they're certainly not the same as national.
It's a harsh reality for some to take, but we don't live in the 60s and 70s anymore. Our political leanings may, but the majority of the rest of the voting public obviously doesn't. There's a left of labour party right now, and they only pull 6%. I party voted them the last two times and probably will again, but expecting labour to start going for the hard left vote is unrealistic when the reality is it's the centre who currently decide elections, and if the left greens can't pull the numbers, why would labour?
I'm sure, with climate change the driver, when the realities hit home for mum and dad, there will be a real movement for radical change, but until that happens, if it has to be incrementally, then so be it.
Win when you can, but ffs, don't give the game away by knee capping yourselves.
I see it similarly although I think a faster way to get there is ore people voting Green. A L/G govt with more Green MPs than now will be quite different from what we have now.
Back to the beginning, but that's what people have been saying to the chairman for quite a while now, how if you want the left stuff you have to vote for it.
Well done "The Chairman" for advocating a way of funding an $8 fee for GP visits (which has been more than met for those up to 13 of course) – to break a pledge made by one of the government parties not to raise income taxes in the first term (I don't have the exact wording, if that's wrong I'm sure someone will correct). I guess advocating meeting one election aim by breaking another is a value judgement you think the government should do, but at least you must appreciate that it is not clear-cut. Righting the wrongs on nine years of neglect by the previous government may take some time – all we can do is point out the reasons why difficult decisions can affect outcomes, and keep voting for a Labour/Green government next time.
And while it is not directly relevant to the thread, "The Chairman," can I ask what you are the Chairman of? or perhaps why you chose that name?
Do you get that while what yrself and Sacha are saying isn't incorrect, it comes across as being apologists.
Especially to those of us with our nearest and dearest bearing the brunt of chronic underfunding. To hear 'just wait, we will do a review', 'get more people to vote Green', and the excuse I despise the most – 'fiscal responsibility'.
That last one is all about getting re-elected. Because clearly as they are being fiscally responsible business confidence is sky high. #sarc.
It really reeks of drinking too much of that neo liberal raro
People are really hurting: health professionals, public, police and ambos.
Hiya gsays. Agree…more nurses. More experienced HCAs. Doctors with enough time to get a bit of a patient history rather than assuming… or worse…judging. My recent trip via ambulance to the local ED was an eyeopener. Hopefully, now I have a stash of Trammies in case The Pain returns, I will never have to impose on them at ED again.
There are efficiencies that could be made in the system…especially around the availability of ultrasounds and other diagnostic scanning…but hey, keep giving out the opioids and send those pesky patients on their merry way.
You are correct to say less non-emergency patients in EDs by using GPS.
Yes poverty is one of the drivers of the high numbers presenting.
So are the co-morbidities the elderly are living with.
You are simply being insulting or proroundly ignorant to suggest the nurses aren't up to it. The idea of a trough on a night shift shows how ill (see what I did there?) informed you are.
Sorry but it helped me. I am so sick of hearing dukeofurl's opinion on everything that actually doesn't add to the topic. However I will give you a break from my opinion.
There will always be busy periods. The issue is whether overloaded staff redlining themselves to exhaustion is becoming the norm, and the quiet periods are becoming fewer and fewer.
The thing of value to learn from what Māori did and experienced is to think through what it would be like living on an island and watching your food sources disappear slowly over time when there is literally no other way to replace them. Māori adapted.
Yeah nah, resorting to cannibalism probably isn’t a vote winner
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Yeah nah, resorting to cannibalism probably isn’t a vote winner
Best you familiarise yourself with cannibalism and the great famines in Western Europe, the New World Jamestown famine cannabilism and cannabilism during twentieth century famines in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Read a thing about the Donner Party (settlers in the US 19th century who got trapped in the Sierra Nevadas over winther and et each other).
The local First Nations tribe repeatedly tried to give the Donner Party food, but as soon as they got in sight the settlers would open fire. They took to leaving food at night, but eventually pulled back when the settlers started eating each other. So yeah, bad situation made worse by racism…
I've just been reading this and besides an earlier reference to Winston this said all and confirms everything NZers owe him in the past and now
Political Animals – Jane Clifton pages 260-261 (2009) "Tamihere is almost the anti-Winston. Where Winston is paranoically scrupulous in his personal, financial and political dealings, Tamihere seems reckless. Where Winston would rather wear a polyester shell suit from Postie Plus than accept a golden handshake, or any lump sum, tax-paid or otherwise, Tamihere seems unabashed about his right to be given money, cars, jobs, attention – whatever. Where Winston hyper-researches everything, and be-labours his work rate as a towering virtue, Tamihere rejoices in the impression of coasting, winging it, not getting into a lather because, hey, life is easy for him. He's a natural. Winston is alive, to the point of mania, to any hint, suggestion, situation which might make him look venal or assuming. "
Theres rumour/bullshit around that Tamiheres real aim is to stand for Tamaki Makaurau for the Maori party next year, win or lose and even be Mayor/MP at the same time ?
Martyn does seem to be stretching things a bit lately doesn't he? On another posting he seems to be claiming that he alone was responsible for getting Peter Dunne to retire.
"I worked hard on pushing the Feed the Kids Bill and not getting it through Parliament because of Peter Fucking Dunne is the greatest regret of my life (although the strategy to remove him from Ohariu in the 2017 was the perfect vengeance),"
In the case of Winston I think he is simply copying Trotter's story about Ardern dying.
With Winston I am tempted to paraphrase Dorothy Parker's quip about Calvin Coolidge.
If someone was to tell me that Winston was dead the appropriate comment would seem to be "How could they tell?"
Alone, Alone, All, All, Alone: To argue that the Prime Minister is the victim of her advisers’ failure to keep her informed may offer Jacinda some measure of exoneration – but only at the cost of casting her as a hopeless political ingénue. A star-dusted muppet, whose only purpose is to ...
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...
I don't want to give pblicity to certain parts of the internet that are better left to fester in their own irrelevance (I know, a bit like this place) but the listing of Chris Trotter as a 'author' on Cameron Slater's spinoff website, the BFD requires some explanation.Now, I don't ...
The text below is a Twitter thread by Heather Heying that explains the essence of sexual reproduction and it long evolutionary history. She is an evolutionary biologist and a “professor-in-exile” after she and her husband, Bret Weinstein, stood up to supporters of an enforced “Day of Absence” for white staff and teachers ...
With crunch time for new Zealand climate policy approaching, most of the New Zealand media have got on board with a global reporting effort to cover the issue. There's one strand of stories today about polling and what it shows about changing public attitudes to the crisis, but the strand ...
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...
Current and former NZDF top brass are being publicly grilled this week by the hit and run inquiry over their public responses to allegations of civilian casualties. Previously, they've claimed there were no casualties, a position which led them to lie to Ministers and to the public. Now, they're saying ...
by Rafael D. Quiles (gender-critical gay man from Puerto Rico) The writing on the wall is right in people’s faces and people just don’t see it or don’t want to. What could actually possess a heterosexual male to want to feminize himself and claim that he is a lesbian? Because ...
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...
by the Redline blog collective At Redline we are very saddened to hear of the death of Magdalen Burns who passed away on the morning of Friday, September 13 (British time). Magdalen was a great fighter for the rights of women in general and lesbian women in particular, a defender ...
The Brexit issue has certainly brought with it a series of apparently difficult constitutional issues, many of them concerning the respective roles of the executive and parliament. Most of them arise because of the unwillingness of MPs, despite their professions to the contrary, to be bound by a constitutional rarity ...
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...
The government has released its Arms Legislation Bill, containing the second tranche of changes to gun laws following the March 15 massacre. And it all looks quite sensible: a national gun register, higher penalties for illegal possession and dealing, tighter restrictions on arms dealers and shooting clubs, and a shorter ...
Private prisons are a stain on humanity. Prison operators explicitly profit from human misery, then lobby for longer prisons terms so they can keep on profiting. And in the US, prison companies run not only local and state prisons, but also Donald Trump's immigration concentration camps. Faced with this moral ...
When National was in power, they were very keen on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) - basicly, using private companies to finance public infrastructure as a way of hiding debt from the public. They were keen on using them for everything - roads, schools, hospitals. But as the UK shows, that "service" ...
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...
by Philip Ferguson Much of the left, even people who formally identify as marxists, have collapsed politically in the face of postmodern gender theory of the sort pioneered by American philosopher Judith Butler. For Butler even biological sex is socially constructed. “If the immutable character of sex is contested, perhaps ...
The media is reporting that the (alleged) Labour party sexual assaulter has resigned from their job at Parliament, which means hopefully he won't be turning up there making people feel unsafe in future. Good. But as with everything about this scandal, it just raises other questions. Most significantly: why the ...
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...
Property developers think there is an "oversupply" of houses in Auckland:High turnover rates and falling prices may be a sign that there are too many new houses going in to some parts of Auckland, commentators say. [...] Property developer David Whitburn said there was a "bit of an oversupply" in ...
Labour Party president Nigel Haworth resigned yesterday over the party's sexual assault scandal. But while that's good news, its unlikely to take away the stench of a coverup. Because according to Paula Bennett in Parliament yesterday, pretty much everyone in the Prime Minister's office was involved as well:I have been ...
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...
There has been a lot of talk about Boris Johnson wanting an election, and he has blustered with great gusto about 'chicken' Jeremy Corbyn refusing one, but I think there are many reasons why he is secretly glad he has been refused the opportunity:The Tories are an utter rabble,tearing themselves ...
Scottish appeal court judges have declared that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the run-up to the October Brexit deadline is unlawful. The three judges, chaired by Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, overturned an earlier ruling that the courts did not have the powers to interfere in the prime ...
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...
I understand there's some stuff going round about how the SIS "was removed from the list of public offices covered by the Public Records Act in 2017". The context of course being their records derived from US torture, which will be disposed of or sealed. The good news is that ...
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ...
Australia is burning down again, and meanwhile its natural disaster minister is denying climate change:Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”. Clarifying earlier comments that the question is “irrelevant” when considering the Coalition government’s response to ...
Auckland Philippines Solidarity is excited to host Professor Judy Taguiwalo for a speaking tour of NZ in September. She is a well-known activist in the Philippines and was a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship. Professor Taguiwalo briefly served as a Cabinet member under President Duterte but was forced from ...
This open letter to the Green Party was penned after an opinion piece by Jill Abigail, a feminist and founding member of the party, was censored by the Greens’ leadership. (Redline has reprinted her article here).The intolerance of the Green Party leaders and their acceptance of the misogyny of gender ...
Today is a Member's day, and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill continues its slow crawl through its committee stage. They're spending the whole day on it today, though the first hour is likely to be spent on voting left over from last time. After that they'll move on ...
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. So how's that going? I was curious, so I asked for all advice about the proposal. ...
As the Brexit saga staggers on, the focus is naturally enough on the Prime Minister and his attempts to achieve Brexit “do or die”. But the role played by the Leader of the Opposition is of almost equal interest and complexity. The first problem for Jeremy Corbyn is that he ...
Last week, English Prime Minister Boris Johnson boldly declared that he would rather die be dead in a ditch than delay Brexit. Unfortunately for him, the UK parliament accepted the challenge, and promptly dug one for him. The "rebellion bill" requires him to ask for and secure yet another temporary ...
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...
by Daphna Whitmore Every Sunday for the past two months unionists from First Union, with supporters from other unions, have set out to the Ihumatao land protest, put up gazebos and gas barbeques, and cooked food for a few hundred locals and supporters who have come from across the country. ...
Newsroom today has an excellent, in-depth article on pine trees as carbon sinks. The TL;DR is that pine is really good at soaking up carbon, but people prefer far-less efficient native forests instead. Which is understandable, but there's two problems: firstly, we've pissed about so long on this problem that ...
Canan Kaftancioglu is a Turkish politician and member of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Like most modern politicians, she tweets, and uses the platform to criticise the Turkish government. She has criticised them over the death of a 14-year-old boy who was hit by a tear gas grenade during ...
Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has published their report on whether the SIS and GCSB had any complicity in American torture. And its damning. The pull quote is this:The Inquiry found both agencies, but to a much greater degree, the NZSIS, received many intelligence reports obtained from detainees who, ...
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...
For most of the time I was a British MP, my party was out of government – these were the Thatcher years, when it was hard for anyone else to get a look-in. As a front-bencher and shadow minister, I became familiar with the strategies required in a parliamentary democracy ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On August 29th a video in which veteran FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) commander Iván Márquez announced that they had taken up arms again was released. There was no delay in the reaction to it, from longtime Liberal Party figure and former president Uribe, for ...
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...
No-one on the anti-capitalist left in this country today puts forward a case that Labour is on the side of the working class. There are certainly people who call themselves ‘socialist’ who do, but they are essentially liberals with vested interests in Labourism – often for career reasons. Nevertheless, there ...
When National was in government and fucking over the poor for the benefit of the rich, foodbanks were a growth industry. And now Labour is in charge, nothing has changed: A huge demand for emergency food parcels means the Auckland City Mission is struggling to prepare for the impending arrival ...
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...
Today the government released its Action Plan for Healthy Waterways, aimed at cleaning up our lakes and rivers. Its actually quite good. There will be protection for wetlands, better standards for swimming spots, a requirement for continuous improvement, and better standards for wastewater and stormwater. But most importantly, there's a ...
Today I appeared before the Environment Committee to give an oral submission on the Zero Carbon Bill. Over 1,500 people have asked to appear in person, so they've divided into subcommittees and are off touring the country, giving people a five minute slot each. The other submitters were a mixed ...
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ...
So, those who “know best” have again done their worst. While constantly claiming to be the guardians of democracy and the constitution, and respecters of the 2016 referendum result, diehard Remainers (who have never brought themselves to believe that their advice could have been rejected) have striven might and main ...
Following publication of this article, the Ministry has requested it to be noted that this supplied image is not necessarily representative of what the final house will look like, and it “probably won’t be that nice.” As part of today’s long-anticipated reset of the Government’s flagship KiwiBuild policy, Housing Minister ...
Over the next week or two we will be running three synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Marx began Capital not with a sweeping historical ...
The State Services Commission and Ombudsman have released another batch of OIA statistics, covering the last six months. Request volumes are up, and the core public service is generally handling them within the legal timeframe, though this may be because they've learned to extend rather than just ignore things. And ...
In 1994, I was editing an ambitious street mag called Planet, from a fabled office at at 309 Karangahape Road. The thirteenth issue of the magazine was published in the winter of that year and its cover embodied a particularly ambitious goal: the end of cannabis prohibition.I wanted to do ...
KiwiBuild was one of the Ardern government's core policies. The government would end the housing crisis and make housing affordable again by building 100,000 new homes. Of course, it didn't work out like that: targets weren't met, the houses they did build were in the wrong place, and the whole ...
As the climate crisis escalates, it is now obvious that we need to radically decarbonise our economy. The good news is that its looking easy and profitable for the energy sector. Wind is already cheaper than fossil fuels, and now solar is too:The levellised cost of solar PV has fallen ...
NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small welcomes the news New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with US President Donald Trump in New York next week. ...
The recent NZIER report trivialises the significant role the dairy sector plays in New Zealand’s economy – and fails to look at the specifics of the Government’s freshwater package, according to DairyNZ. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said ...
This week, the New Zealand Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will jointly host a seminar on tackling the global spread of illicit weapons. ...
In a landmark judgment issued this morning, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Southern Response Concealment Class Action will proceed issued on an "opt out” basis. ...
Mainstream media, as the purveyors of truth and source of balanced information, took another backward step today with the announcement by Stuff that most New Zealand organisations had joined 170 media outlets from around the world in the “Covering ...
The goal of one million Kiwis having basic conversations in te reo by 2040 is unrealistic if more is not done to get serious about reo acquisition says the Māori Party. “While small steps have been taken to bolster efforts to increase the numbers of speakers, ...
Changes announced today by the Immigration Minister to employer-assisted visas will help businesses, but more work is needed to boost economic growth says Business Central. ...
DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is welcoming today’s announcement that the Government will be streamlining the employer assisted work visa process to help businesses and farms fill skills shortages. ...
Lawrence Yule MP wrote to our Office with concerns about the Department of Corrections' approach to procuring design and build services for rapid deployment of prison accommodation. We have published our response to Mr Yule on our website . ...
That from the chair of the Wellington Region of the College of Midwives, Siobhan Connor, following the news that Hutt Valley District Health Board is targeting midwives from overseas to help fill gaps in maternity units. ...
70% of New Zealand’s surface water take is allocated to Meridian’s Manapouri Power Scheme. But when Environment Minister David Parker asked to exempt the Scheme from his Freshwater Action Plan, he didn’t tell Cabinet that. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers responded in a timely and appropriate manner as soon as they were aware that a fleeing driver had hit a pedestrian. ...
prevention and intervention. Following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s post-Cabinet press conference we are encouraged to see the acknowledgement of the mistakes made and the need to address this. The five points outlined in the action plan, which ...
A surge in teen vaping rates and a series of deaths being linked to vaping has resulted in a number of bans on the sales of flavoured Vape juice products in the United States. Though it is widely acknowledged that vaping is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, ...
The governments’ new environmental proposals will further accentuate the move of good, productive farmland into forestry according to environmental lobby group 50 Shades of Green. ...
17 September 2019: New Zealanders are acutely aware of the impact food production processes have on our planet according to new research released today by the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust. ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL is awarding three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
On 14 September 2017, the pipeline that brings diesel, petrol, and jet fuel from Marsden Point Oil Refinery into Auckland ruptured. It leaked jet fuel into rural properties and stopped the transmission of fuels into Auckland for 10 days. The rupture ...
Victims Advocate Louise Nicholas - Labour should have brought in “specialist support” “When there is a complaint especially a serious complaint of sexual assault, the first thing that should have happened was specialist support brought in to ensure ...
Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says New Zealand is ‘not close’ to bringing in oil reserves after the attack on Saudi fields. “We would have to see prices rise by about $20 per barrel in order for some of those strategic reserves ...
New Zealand's new fresh water regulation rules will have no major impacts on the national economy, according to an independent report just out. The report by independent economic consultancy New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows that dairying ...
Fish & Game New Zealand has welcomed the findings of a New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report, which rejects claims the Government’s freshwater proposals will have a significant economic impact. ...
The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the Government should take its proposed firearms legislation to the people with a touring Select Committee, as it just has with the Zero Carbon bill. ...
Water reforms and the long term sustainability of water will be a key focus at the Water New Zealand conference and expo this week (18-20 September) in Hamilton. ...
“Kiwi ex-smokers are mobilising against the Government’s plans to drastically limit vaping flavours. Flavours have been key to them quitting tobacco and they now just want other smokers to have the same chance,” says Jonathan Devery, co-owner ...
Oil company Tamarind Resources has reportedly halted drilling at its Tui oil field off the Taranaki coast after the first of the three planned wells came up dry and bad weather caused delays. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the left-wing campaign group “ActionStation” to front up and be transparent about how much taxpayer funding it takes from the Government to underwrite its activism activities. Earlier in the month, the Taxpayers’ ...
The ‘ Unplanned ’ movie is here and Family First has secured one of the first screenings in New Zealand tonight. ‘Unplanned’ brings an eye-opening look inside the abortion industry from a woman who was once its most passionate advocate. All ...
James Renwick claim that NZ is failing on climate change is valid, and since James has been receiving widespread media coverage that we outline most of it again here now as we gear up for the ‘Global climate change conference’ beginning next week. ...
Protestors will be outside the venue of the fourth hearing for Operation Burnham Inquiry on Monday morning from 8.30am to give a message to former and current military officers as they arrive to speak about the ongoing coverup of the 2010 attack on ...
The long-running campaign against purported Chinese “interference” in New Zealand’s political system intensified in the past week following a five-day visit to Beijing by opposition National Party leader Simon Bridges. ...
National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett spent the week claiming a serious cover-up in the Prime Minister's office. She used parliamentary privilege to name three of the Prime Minister's closest advisors who, she says, knew about the sexual assault ...
Six months on from the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand history, Simon Shepherd asked Al Noor Mosque spokesperson Anthony Green how the Christchurch Muslim is community faring. ...
“The Game Animal Council is concerned that the Government’s second tranche of firearms legislation released today may contain unreasonable provisions that will unfairly impact hunters,” says Game Animal Council Chair Don Hammond. ...
Government policy work on the Carbon Zero bill highlights connections between climate change, carbon sequestration and agriculture. Water quality and allocation are also topical with the release of the Draft Policy Statement for Freshwater Management ...
DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is welcoming this afternoon’s announcement that consultation on Essential Freshwater has been extended by two weeks - but is calling on the Minister to go further. ...
DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle is calling on the Government to move swiftly to extend the six-week timeframe of the Essential Freshwater consultation. ...
Immigration New Zealand could really benefit from an large investment of money, comments Ms June Ranson, chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) , a leading voice in the immigration sector. “Instead of spending $25m ...
In recent times there has been no shortage of commentary regarding whistleblowers, with the proposed amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act 2000. These are aimed at strengthening the protection available to whistleblowers in New Zealand. That ...
Gun Control NZ strongly welcomes the comprehensive gun law reform bill and calls on all political parties to support it. Gun Control NZ encourages New Zealanders to let their MPs know they support this Bill, submit to the Select Committee, and ...
Federated Farmers agrees with most of the steps by government to protect people from illegal or irresponsible firearms use. But concerns about pest control and the effectiveness of a register remain. ...
Today at Parliament the NZ Drug Foundation released Taking control of cannabis: A model for responsible regulation, a new report that shows how we can take back control of cannabis from organised crime. ...
It was another wild week in our favourite island paradise, as our remaining celebrities continued their quest to win cash for charity. Tara Ward power ranks. The bells of change have rung on Celebrity Treasure Island, and we’re now knee deep in an individual game of trickery, ping-pongery, and Tim-Tammery. The two ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Arthur Sinodinos will soon leave the Senate, and early next year take up the position of Australian ambassador in Washington. A former staffer and one-time public servant as well as a former minister, in this ...
The fishing industry is fighting back against claims its ad campaign is 'spin', saying protecting the Māui dolphin shouldn’t come at the expense of commercial fishers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie Walters, PhD candidate in music, University of Adelaide Review: XXX Neon Sign, composed by Dan Thorpe, Rumpus Theatre More than perhaps any other instrument, the grand piano symbolises the classical music canon and its rigid traditions. Placing such an instrument centre-stage ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Leuzinger, Associate Professor, Auckland University of Technology CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Conway, Senior Lecturer – Games and Interactivity, Swinburne University of Technology Two of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple and Google, are launching cloud-based gaming services this year. Apple Arcade, due for release in two days, will ultimately go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Marks, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Strategy and Policy, Western Sydney University “How good is Gladys Berejiklian?” Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked a jubilant crowd of Liberal supporters on the evening of her March 23 2019 state election win. Only as good as her ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Charlson, Conjoint NHMRC Early Career Fellow, The University of Queensland This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) recently declared ...
Life insurance companies have been taken to task for being too slow to improve their culture and conduct by regulators, which appears set to lead to tougher regulation. ...
In this extract from a chapter called ‘Deep Time’ in Rebecca Priestley’s new memoir, Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica, Rebecca remembers her peculiar, legume-heavy, art-saturated childhood in Wellington. (And a note from the author: if anyone has a painting from Ruth Priestley’s Antarctic Dream series, Rebecca would love to hear from ...
The government is introducing a new employer-led work visa that it says will help plug shortages, reduce exploitation, and improve conditions for New Zealand workers. ...
The Spinoff’s cartoonist Toby Morris chats and draws with New Zealand’s doodlers in the webseries Two Sketches. In the fifth episode, Toby sits down with comic artist Ben Stenbeck. Two Sketches returns with another leisurely draw and a chat hosted by award-winning illustrator Toby Morris. In this episode, Toby chats with ...
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...
New Netflix movie The Tall Girl was roundly mocked before it even came out. Josie Adams, a tall girl herself, reviews it.“You know that really, really, really tall girl you go to school with? The one that people call LeBron, Skyscraper, Patty long legs?”That’s Jodi, the 6-foot-1 protagonist of The ...
A spate of court cases around the world has highlighted a new kind of risk for carbon emitters, and the big investors that support them - expensive litigation. ...
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...
Children, pregnant women and the elderly are the most at risk from extreme weather and heat – but the impact is already felt across every specialty of medicine. ...
Most KiwiSaver funds are managed by one of the big Australian banks, which create returns through investments in fossil fuels, human rights violations, tobacco and weaponry. With attitudes shifting towards sustainability, what can ordinary investors do?This month 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg completed a journey across the Atlantic in a ...
A swathe of gloomy global headlines appear to have further dampened consumers' outlook about the economy but they are feeling more upbeat about their own personal finances. ...
Covering Climate Now: From CFCs to nuclear weapons, history has shown that the first step to eliminating a threat is to ban it, argues Thomas Nash.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to the contributions of Spinoff Members. Join The Spinoff Members to help us do ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Labour Party sexual assault allegations Richard Harman (Politik): Goodbye Labour – Hello Brand Jacinda Barry ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has "called time" on opposing claims over sexual assault allegations against a Labour Party staffer being contested in public. ...
ByRNZ Pacific Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has said she “regrets and strongly condemns” the Solomon Islands’ decision to establish diplomatic relations with China. The Solomons cabinet made the decision yesterday after which Taiwan terminated its 36-year relationship with the Pacific country. Tsai said China’s promises of financial assistance ...
In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Josie Adams assesses the bastion of progressive virtue that is Dunedin/Ōtepoti.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The SpinoffMembers. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.Where?Dunedin, or Ōtepoti, is also known as “the ...
The Commerce Commission has been accused of miscalculating how much money the country's biggest fuel retailer Z Energy is making, in its initial report on competition in the sector. ...
A Canterbury startup is exposing medical equipment manufacturers’ deliberate one-use design tricks and proving that hospitals can reuse and recycle. There has been a lot of hype about the phasing out of plastic bags at supermarkets. But what about far more expensive items which only ever get used once and are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Wilkes, Senior Research Geophysicist, CSIRO At some point in recent weeks, a once-in-a-lifetime event happened for people at Greenwich in the United Kingdom. Magnetic compasses at the historic London area, known as the home of the Prime Meridian, were said to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison McEwen, Head of Discipline of Genetic Counselling, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.Why are some twins identical and some not? – Chloe, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc Hudson, Researcher, University of Manchester Paddy Manning’s excellent account of the Australian Greens will not be the last word on Australia’s most successful third party, but will doubtless remain important and influential for many years to come. Manning’s exhaustive (but never ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abby Mellick Lopes, Senior Lecturer in Design, Western Sydney University This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. A recent report by the Greater Sydney Commission ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eve Vincent, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University “This is a bit controversial, we know that,” deputy prime minister Michael McCormick told the National Party’s federal council, which on the weekend voted for a national roll-out of cashless debit cards for anyone younger than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pat Ranald, Research fellow, University of Sydney The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership has been touted as the best hope for keeping world trade flowing after the attacks on the World Trade Organisation. The WTO isn’t dead yet, but in a two-pronged attack, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University In 1955, an enormous photographic exhibition, The Family of Man, challenged the world as to what it meant to be human. The curator, Edward Steichen, assembled 503 photographs by 273 photographers from ...
Open mike 30/08/2019 
A short and incredibly powerful speech from a young lesbian woman. No one is born in the wrong body. ...5 hours ago
Back in June, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that that country's continued arms sales to Saudi Arabia were unlawful. So you'd expect that the UK government stopped approving them, right?Of course not:The government has apologised for breaching a court ruling against the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia that ...7 hours ago
14 hours ago
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...14 hours ago
1 day ago
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...1 day ago
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...1 day ago
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...1 day ago
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...2 days ago
The Brexit issue has certainly brought with it a series of apparently difficult constitutional issues, many of them concerning the respective roles of the executive and parliament. Most of them arise because of the unwillingness of MPs, despite their professions to the contrary, to be bound by a constitutional rarity ...4 days ago
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...4 days ago
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...4 days ago
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...5 days ago
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...5 days ago
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...6 days ago
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...6 days ago
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ... 6 days ago
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...7 days ago
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...1 week ago
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...1 week ago
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...1 week ago
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...1 week ago
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...1 week ago
Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...1 week ago
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...1 week ago
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...2 weeks ago
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...2 weeks ago
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...2 weeks ago
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ... 2 weeks ago
Following publication of this article, the Ministry has requested it to be noted that this supplied image is not necessarily representative of what the final house will look like, and it “probably won’t be that nice.” As part of today’s long-anticipated reset of the Government’s flagship KiwiBuild policy, Housing Minister ...2 weeks ago
NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small welcomes the news New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with US President Donald Trump in New York next week. ...2 hours ago
A former member of the Philippines strongman's Cabinet explains why she joined - and why the world must hold him to account. ...51 mins ago
It was another wild week in our favourite island paradise, as our remaining celebrities continued their quest to win cash for charity. Tara Ward power ranks. The bells of change have rung on Celebrity Treasure Island, and we’re now knee deep in an individual game of trickery, ping-pongery, and Tim-Tammery. The two ...1 hour ago
The Auditor General will be investigating the effectiveness of the firearm buy-back scheme. ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Arthur Sinodinos will soon leave the Senate, and early next year take up the position of Australian ambassador in Washington. A former staffer and one-time public servant as well as a former minister, in this ...2 hours ago
A national conversation about population planning is not easy, but it's one we need to have, writes Laura Walters. ...4 hours ago
Two years ago, the Prime Minister says climate action was barely discussed at international summits - now, it's top of the agenda. ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie Walters, PhD candidate in music, University of Adelaide Review: XXX Neon Sign, composed by Dan Thorpe, Rumpus Theatre More than perhaps any other instrument, the grand piano symbolises the classical music canon and its rigid traditions. Placing such an instrument centre-stage ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Leuzinger, Associate Professor, Auckland University of Technology CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Conway, Senior Lecturer – Games and Interactivity, Swinburne University of Technology Two of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple and Google, are launching cloud-based gaming services this year. Apple Arcade, due for release in two days, will ultimately go ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Charlson, Conjoint NHMRC Early Career Fellow, The University of Queensland This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) recently declared ...6 hours ago
Life insurance companies have been taken to task for being too slow to improve their culture and conduct by regulators, which appears set to lead to tougher regulation. ...7 hours ago
The New Zealand dollar remains the 10th most traded currency globally, according to a new survey. ...7 hours ago
In this extract from a chapter called ‘Deep Time’ in Rebecca Priestley’s new memoir, Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica, Rebecca remembers her peculiar, legume-heavy, art-saturated childhood in Wellington. (And a note from the author: if anyone has a painting from Ruth Priestley’s Antarctic Dream series, Rebecca would love to hear from ...7 hours ago
After nine months and much consultation, the Government has unveiled its overhauled migrant worker scheme, to much industry acclaim. ...8 hours ago
The Spinoff’s cartoonist Toby Morris chats and draws with New Zealand’s doodlers in the webseries Two Sketches. In the fifth episode, Toby sits down with comic artist Ben Stenbeck. Two Sketches returns with another leisurely draw and a chat hosted by award-winning illustrator Toby Morris. In this episode, Toby chats with ...8 hours ago
Surprise, surprise. The waving of a wet bus ticket did little to encourage New Zealand's life insurers to behave better. ...8 hours ago
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...9 hours ago
New Netflix movie The Tall Girl was roundly mocked before it even came out. Josie Adams, a tall girl herself, reviews it.“You know that really, really, really tall girl you go to school with? The one that people call LeBron, Skyscraper, Patty long legs?”That’s Jodi, the 6-foot-1 protagonist of The ...9 hours ago
A spate of court cases around the world has highlighted a new kind of risk for carbon emitters, and the big investors that support them - expensive litigation. ...9 hours ago
Performance poet Ben Fagan continues his investigation into just what exactly the term Pākehā means in contemporary New Zealand life. ...9 hours ago
Children, pregnant women and the elderly are the most at risk from extreme weather and heat – but the impact is already felt across every specialty of medicine. ...10 hours ago
Most KiwiSaver funds are managed by one of the big Australian banks, which create returns through investments in fossil fuels, human rights violations, tobacco and weaponry. With attitudes shifting towards sustainability, what can ordinary investors do?This month 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg completed a journey across the Atlantic in a ...10 hours ago
A swathe of gloomy global headlines appear to have further dampened consumers' outlook about the economy but they are feeling more upbeat about their own personal finances. ...10 hours ago
The head of the Marsden Point oil refinery operator has resigned to lead the country's biggest energy company. ...11 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: From CFCs to nuclear weapons, history has shown that the first step to eliminating a threat is to ban it, argues Thomas Nash.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to the contributions of Spinoff Members. Join The Spinoff Members to help us do ...11 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has said she “regrets and strongly condemns” the Solomon Islands’ decision to establish diplomatic relations with China. The Solomons cabinet made the decision yesterday after which Taiwan terminated its 36-year relationship with the Pacific country. Tsai said China’s promises of financial assistance ...11 hours ago
The value of New Zealand's primary industry exports is expected to dip fractionally next year. ...12 hours ago
The Commerce Commission has been accused of miscalculating how much money the country's biggest fuel retailer Z Energy is making, in its initial report on competition in the sector. ...12 hours ago
A Canterbury startup is exposing medical equipment manufacturers’ deliberate one-use design tricks and proving that hospitals can reuse and recycle. There has been a lot of hype about the phasing out of plastic bags at supermarkets. But what about far more expensive items which only ever get used once and are ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Wilkes, Senior Research Geophysicist, CSIRO At some point in recent weeks, a once-in-a-lifetime event happened for people at Greenwich in the United Kingdom. Magnetic compasses at the historic London area, known as the home of the Prime Meridian, were said to ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University Australia’s attempts to secure the release of an Australian national and two with joint UK-Australian citizenship from an Iranian prison have become vastly more complicated following the brazen attacks on Saudi oil ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison McEwen, Head of Discipline of Genetic Counselling, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au. Why are some twins identical and some not? – Chloe, ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Professorial fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne In this age of rapidly melting glaciers, terrifying megafires and ever more puissant hurricanes, of acidifying and rising oceans, it is hard to believe that any further prod to climate action ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc Hudson, Researcher, University of Manchester Paddy Manning’s excellent account of the Australian Greens will not be the last word on Australia’s most successful third party, but will doubtless remain important and influential for many years to come. Manning’s exhaustive (but never ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abby Mellick Lopes, Senior Lecturer in Design, Western Sydney University This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. A recent report by the Greater Sydney Commission ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eve Vincent, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University “This is a bit controversial, we know that,” deputy prime minister Michael McCormick told the National Party’s federal council, which on the weekend voted for a national roll-out of cashless debit cards for anyone younger than ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University In 1955, an enormous photographic exhibition, The Family of Man, challenged the world as to what it meant to be human. The curator, Edward Steichen, assembled 503 photographs by 273 photographers from ...13 hours ago
(hugh grant is not that keen on boris johnson – eh..?..)
'Hugh Grant
@HackedOffHugh
· Aug 29
You will not fuck with my children’s future. You will not destroy the freedoms my grandfather fought two world wars to defend. Fuck off you over-promoted rubber bath toy. Britain is revolted by you and you little gang of masturbatory prefects'.
So HG is all worked up because The Boris has decreed that parliament will sit 3 days LESS in October than originally planned. ( its party conference break time)
He fails to see the the bonus of a new session of parliament, after the Queens speech its standard for MPs to vote on a no confidence motion on the government.
If its a majority against its bye bye Johnson.
They can even do that next week. but its a bit more difficult procedurally
”If its a majority against its bye bye Johnson”
no.
Its more ore that it will end in a general election. Luckily for all right thinking people labour is lead by corbyn who is unelectable- this it will result in happy Boris with an increased majority.
yeah – i know – luvvie throws a tanty – who cares..?
but i liked the air of exasperation..
and the creative-heft that went into: 'you over-promoted rubber bath toy'.
(and the tory-definition:..)
'little gang of masturbatory prefects'.
(sez it all – really..)
I saw an item on either BBC or the Guardian yesterday where Johnston was poised to make an announcement on Education budget – or some such subject. Maybe a distraction from Brexit? I think that might be what HG is responding to.
I think you are all missing the bigger picture going forward that Hugh is foaming about. People seem so fixated on procedures that they forget about the effects on the UK politicians and financials treating the country's doings as if it was a reality show, dropping off the unwanted. Is anyone a follower of the Alex cartoons I have mentioned before. He is such a twisted character, always sorting out a way of profiting from any setbacks, wholely money and status oriented. The creators are so clever they will cut themselves.
Well said.
Fewer, dookydooky. A fairly strategic three days.
A corporate raider like Brierley would undoubtedly approve Boris Johnson's raid on Britain in the best traditions of Caesar, Scandinavians, and Normans.
Good morning, I've a question please……
Just seen in our local paper requests for nominations for the national party for candidates for the the West Coast/Tasman electorate for the 2020 election.
Does national do this every election cycle, it's just I've never noticed it before. Or is it an indication that nat members are unhappy with their current list MP who stands in that electorate?
I wish they would do it here in Tauranga as we have the one clinging on to everything like a limpet – it saying that though I had a local Labour branch one yesterday outlining the local body candidates, all of them not specifically how they were backed and many say they are "independents" so a lot of careful reading to do to see who to back.
Seems to be normal practice under National's rules and procedures for the selection of electorate candidates.
https://www.national.org.nz/national_2020_candidate_selection_process_begins
Rapunzel, apparently this has already taken place in Tauranga during the two weeks, 12 – 26 August.
There are obvious reasons why I wouldn't know that but it is rather a surprise I haven't seen a thing in the news to suggest, at this stage anyway, it would be anything other than the incumbent.
Anyway I hopped onto another roll when it was open last year just because I could and because my candidate vote will now matter.
Neither did I but found that press release in a quick google. I have now had a better look at the National Party Constitution and Rules etc and the latter are quite specific in the process for selection of candidates – in particular Rules 86 -118.
Rule 87(c) specifies in a general way that the Electorate Committee must advertise for candidate and Rule 92 is then much more specific, ie:
Lots more specific information about the full process in the Constitution and Rules here for anyone interested … (I'm not except on an academic level, LOL)
https://elections.nz/assets/Party-files/national-party-rules-and-constitution.pdf
Thanks VV.
Last night The Chairman raised the issue of the state of affairs in our Emergency Departments.
He raised a couple of good points: lack of insightful questioning by journalists and a perceived lack of action by the minister.
Because it was TC a pile-on ensued.
The issue remains, causing stress for staff and the public and a high turnover of workers.
From a senior emergency nurse in Mid Central DHB area I have 4 things that can be done alleviate the strain.
A mandatory patient care ratio of 3 patients per nurse (currently it can get up to 6, and some can be very sick).
Increase the capacity on the surgical, medical and orthopedic wards by 5 beds each.
On the night shifts increase the number of doctors on from 3 to 4.
Put 10 more beds in the department. At Palmy, they are in a newish department, one that was woefully under prepared for the growing needs of its population.
Yes, it costs money (cough cough surpluses) so it seems to be a lack of will is where the problems start.
The answer is to devote MORE resources to Primary Care ( GPS) as its the people who DONT need emergency care that are clogging up the ED.
Lower cost general practice visits
We have changed things to make visits to general practices more affordable for you, your family and whānau.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/primary-health-care/primary-health-care-subsidies-and-services/lower-cost-general-practice-visits
Especially good news for children
"All enrolled children aged 13 and under won’t be charged a fee for a standard visit with a doctor or nurse, or:
Putting the extra money where its needed is better than funding the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
The Chairman is just pushing the employment case for Junior doctors .
As for Nurses in the ED , maybe some people are better suited for the steady rythyms of wards or clinics rather than the busy peaks and slow troughs of the ED
@Dukeofurl
When Jacinda was vying to win the elections she touted 8 dollar GP fees while National were promising 18 dollar visits.
Labour have yet to deliver on that $8 charge.
Knowing more resources to Primary Care is needed but failing to deliver it's no wonder ED's are overflowing and doctors are speaking out.
As a result, clearly Labour haven't put a sufficient amount of funding where it is initially needed. Moreover, due to Nationals under funding haven't put a sufficient amount into hospitals themselves. Keeping them on the back foot and under pressure while ensuring (by failing to deliver on cheaper GP visits) growing numbers, thus further pressure with larger workloads. Putting lives at greater risk.
I'm not merely pushing the employment case for junior doctors. As indicated last night, I was highlighting there is an actual problem which the Minster hasn't denied and in fact acknowledged.
If this was National doing this, I'm sure the outcry here would be massive, but as it is occurring under a Labour led Government it seems it's OK and I'm the problem for highlighting it. If we want better, we can't continue to defend Labour's shortfalls. We need to put the acid on them and let them know we won't accept their shortcomings and failure to deliver.
Excerpts from The 'lefty" "more left than most" Chairman's comment today @3.1.1 – from one comment FFS. If is wasn’t for The Chariman‘s self-declared ‘friend of the left‘ status, one could be forgiven for forming the impression that they were in cahoots with the National party!
Knowing more resources to Primary Care is needed but failing to deliver it's no wonder ED's are overflowing and doctors are speaking out.
When are Labour going to deliver on those $8 charges, Drowsy M. Kram?
Moreover, when will they sort out the trouble in our hospitals and reduce the lives currently being put at risk?
National’s Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse press release
https://www.national.org.nz/dhb_performance_going_backwards_under_clark (29 August 2019)
Spot the difference between Woodhouse’s 29 August press release and The Chairman's comment @3.1.1.1.1.
Party vote Labour/Green for a more progressive tax system to better fund NZ’s excellent public health service.
Got no answers, Drowsy M. Kram. Funny that, because neither have Labour so it seems.
Just because I (and others such as a number in the health profession) are concerned about this and are seeking answers doesn't mean we are part of National.
And Labour need to understand this. People (i.e. voters) have a genuine concern about this. Any one of us could at anytime get caught up in this, having our lives put at risk.
Claiming they/we are Nats does Labour no favours. Hence you are doing Labour no favours taking this attack approach.
And seeing as National played a big part in creating this mess, thus risk, their press release is a bit rich and a joke if it weren't so serious.
Keep digging
Party vote Labour/Green for a more progressive tax system to better fund NZ’s excellent public health service.
Where, when?
All we got from this lot is more regressive tax.
You mean the last lot as that describes National.
You think Chemmy might not be a stranger to the Woodlouse's office?
Don't know – it's a curious coincidence. If I wanted to avoid suspicion, I'd wait more than one day before replicating a National party spokesperson's talking points here. So maybe he is a genuine "lefty" – but there's so little evidence.
I'm sure you are not just interested in what should happen, "The Chairman", but also in what needs to happen to enable more money to be spent. After all, we all know that money does not grow on trees. Now there are a few things that do have to be considered first. You have talked about a "promise" by Jacinda; I am not familiar with it, but you have not provided any evidence that it was indeed a promise – remember that Labour was not elected to govern alone – budgetary aims may well be influenced by other partners in government.The second is that we are only two years into a three year term – clearly any government will assess priorities, as after all, money is not limitless. Now we do know that a lot has been allocated to the health budget – directly settlement of nurses pay negotiations, and some advances on doctors pay. Also there are payments for mould found in some hospital wards – the millions required had to come from somewhere. Then there have been costs in increasing staffing in various areas, but perhaps particularly in mental health, and costs of children;s visits to GPs have been reduced. The recent announcement of meals in schools is relatively small, but could be regarded as assisting both health outcomes as well as education goals. So the question back to you "The Chairman," is where is the money coming from? We can be thankful that National's tax cuts were not allowed to reduce government income; and it is a shame that capital gains taxes were left unchanged. Overall there has been a big increase in health spending over that of the previous government, doubtless funded in part by not having given the cuts to income tax planned by National, and also by increased tax receipts by the improvement in business profits following the increase to minimum wages and benefits. So while your question may be reasonable, it is partly answered by saying that priorities will have affected different areas of spending, but also it is fair to ask you, and the National Party spokesperson raising similar issues – what spending would you defer to achieve this aim more quickly, or how would you raise additional money to enable the higher level of spending?
Thanks for not being scared to speak up, gsays.
You are the only one thus far.
This is a major issue that is putting lives at risk, therefore I'm sure there is more out there that hold concerns over this. Leading me to suspect a good number here get put off by the detractors and don't want to come under attack from this mob running wild. Thus, remain silent.
yeah that mob has a real UN look about it I agree
It's not their looks or nationality that is of concern, Marty. It's that they are shutting down genuine political discussion putting others off from partaking.
Who are “they” and how are they shutting down debate and putting off participation?
Is this an attempt at irony? If so, it almost succeeded, almost …
Witnessing the pile-on that ensued turns others off IMO. Why do you think no one but gsays thus far has partaken (in support) in this serious discussion.
Do you really believe no one on this site has a concern about this apart from us two?
“They” can be found in the pile-on that ensued.
Never fear, The Chair is here – and ‘concern’ is building.
Since the vast majority of NZers rely on the NZ public health service for their medical needs, I would think that the vast majority of NZers would have some interest in the state of that service and whether it has been and is being adequately funded/resourced.
I remain unconvinced that the current government are doing an awful job on public health, but this critical service certainly faces increased challenges.
This the second day running this ‘topic’. I gave it a shot yesterday on Daily review but it was an exercise in futility. All I can see is your anti-Labour bias that comes through strongly in almost every comment of yours. Others can see this too and hence the ‘pile on’.
For some reason you cannot accept that your MO is the main obstacle for serious discussion.
As Rosemary would say, SSDD.
Ditto.
All I seem to get from you is defence of Labour's shortcomings.
With Labour failing to live up to their namesake coupled with all their shortcomings, of course I have a bias against them. They no longer really represent the left and haven't really since 84. They haven't even apologised for that, let alone done much to correct it. You get more real lefties over at the daily blog than you get here.
Instead of piling in on me for highlighting Labours failures (my MO) you lot (if you are genuine lefties) should be piling in with me against them to help bring about change for the better.
Do you support and want this risk of life in our health system? Doctors are speaking up, why aren't the left here joining in?
All the people on the left I know do have a bias against Labour apart from the so-called left here. What is up with that?
As for Rosemary's unsubstantiated, bold assertion the other day, I have a post coming that will clearly show she is incorrect.
This place is like the twilight zone, where poverty has nothing to do with suicide and doctors speaking out about lives being put at risk musters no support, bloody unreal. Come on you lot, surely you lot are better than this.
Assuming that was directed at me, you are incorrect and have missed my point(s). I was not defending Labour – and with you it always is just Labour – against your criticism, I was criticising your criticism of Labour, the way you go about it, i.e. your style.
At last, we have some clarity about your bias, which is helpful indeed. Unfortunately, your bias is so strong, it has become a binary of polar opposites of either pro- or anti-Labour. Many (of us) are still somewhere in between these two extremes and view it as a spectrum rather.
So, please don’t box in people based on whether you judge them pro- or anti-Labour (or Left or Right, Black or White, et cetera). It gets you nowhere, evidently.
The rest of your comment is trying to reduce “[t]his place”, i.e. the people who write here, to a collection of simplistic souls without any acknowledgment of nuance and context. This may fit and suit your one-eyed single-minded view of (NZ) politics and this political blog but it is grossly inaccurate and does the TS community no justice.
So, instead of trying to pull or force us into your rabbit hole you may want to reconsider your contribution and presence here because something has got to give.
It may be there – the anti Labour bias – he never seems to make criticisms of the Gnats. But most of his critiques are pretty solid, unlike the run of trolls. I think he's playing the game functionally, which is more than can be said for Shadrach, James, or the entire Opposition come to that.
The Chairman has racked up 1000s of comments on The Standard.
If he could cite half a dozen of his comments made during the last long period of National-led ‘governance’ that were critical of National party policies/MPs, then I'd be less triggered by his modus operandi.
But he can't, because those comments don't exist.
Just to be clear: 1000s of comments by The Chairman on this site during that period, ALL exclusively critical of left-leaning opposition parties/MPs. His comments here comprise a broken record, IMHO.
Yeah I know.
But he doesn't commit the major troll faults – putting words in people's mouths, RW wishful thinking (except for a few spurious criticisms that won't fly), outright lying, or personal abuse.
He finds pointed but often real grounds to critique the coalition – there is a place for it.
Again, I disagree. Misinterpreting other’s words coupled to a strong bias can lead to comments that essentially have the same effect as deliberately putting words in people’s mouths. The Chairman does come close to this, on occasion, and I moderated (warned) him recently for telling people how they should or should not feel about something they disagreed on with him. I don’t believe he does these things deliberately, unlike malicious trolls, because he would have been long gone if that were the case.
You see, I don’t want him gone here, I want him to change his communication style that he seems so fond of …
As far as I am concerned, The Chairman can criticise the Government all he likes, hold them to account, and foster serious debate here. But he’s not accomplishing that if he keeps up his style!
I disagree.
For example, yesterday Drowsy M. Kram said:
/daily-review-29-08-2019/#comment-1650763
The Chairman replied quoting verbatim and then responded with a straight-out attack on Labour!
/daily-review-29-08-2019/#comment-1650824
This happens all the time! When the Government does something wrong or fails to do something right or at all in the eyes of The Chairman, it will trigger an attack on Labour and on Labour only. Generally. Often.
Although he does occasionally offer good points, the overall impact of his comments is heavily geared towards negative and they kill any serious discussion. Thus, in practice, the impact is as bad as of trolls.
The sad thing is though, and I give The Chairman the benefit of doubt, he does not intend to troll us but to force (?) the Government to do (much) better, if I may paraphrase The Chairman. Unfortunately, his MO is largely counter-productive to the cause he wants to promote …
@Incognito fair enough – sorry if I queered the pitch. I do think TC overdoes it, with consequent loss of gravitas, but some of his stuff is surprisingly good.
Thank you for the useful feedback, Stuart, and no need to apologise for that.
I’m trying to look at the bigger picture and figure out whether and how, on the balance of their comments, a commenter is or makes a positive contribution to serious and robust debate on this site or not. If not, I’d like find a way to improve the situation so that we all can reap the benefit of their contribution. I believe everyone has got something to offer and some commenters blow me out of the water at times (in a good way) …
Personally and as a moderator watching patterns of behaviour (yours and others'), it's very obvious that a big reason others don't partake is because your style of arguing is incredibly frustrating to engage with. I don't like the tone of the pile on and will keep an eye on that, but ime generally they happen because regulars in an online community are at the end of their patience with someone behaving badly.
This has been a long standing problem with how you present your arguments.
I see, it's all my fault, of course. Next you''l be saying it is better for the site to remove me.
I don't accept that at all.
What exactly is wrong with the way I present my arguments in your mind?
As a suggestion, let’s do an experiment. You choose a new pseudonym and start commenting with a clean sheet (track record). If you get no traction with serious discussion on your comments, we could assume that the TS community does not agree with you and/or that your MO is the reason. To suggest that only hardened Labour sycophants frequent TS who won’t want to hear anything bad about Labour is pushing it but you’re free to have that opinion and stick with it, if you must. In fact, there are quite a number of commenters here that are less enamoured with Labour.
Yes, and they tend to cop it too
Regardless if I changed my handle, my writing style is unique, hence identifiable, so that is a no go. Thus, I’ll stick with it, thanks.
Yes, your comments are idiosyncratic but it never seems to occur to you that your style could be the issue. I thought I’d give you a suggestion to overcome the stalemate but you stubbornly refuse to change your ways. In fact, you ignore your role in any pile on saying:
However, you do follow immediately with this question:
Indeed, we have been over this so many times and nothing changes.
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/national-and-petrol-taxes-when-journalists-gets-it-right/
I was thinking of you when I read that.
I am not suggesting you should not comment here or criticise the Coalition Government (not just Labour). Though I am suggesting that you change how you do these things. It is a subtle difference in the way you communicate the same thing.
FWIW, I do believe you genuinely consider yourself a leftie. However, this does nothing for your MO here.
This says it more succinctly than most of us can muster: https://wondermark.com/1k62/
Ha!
"I see, it's all my fault, of course."
Is it? I thought I just described a dynamic I am observing that involves multiple people in a community.
"Next you''l be saying it is better for the site to remove me."
The site is a machine, have a look at the Policy and hope Lynn isn't reading the comments.
What can remove you is moderation, and that is done by real live people. You've now had two moderators give you feedback and do that with the courtesy of comment rather than bolded moderation. I'm not aware of anyone saying you should be removed from the site.
Where banning tends to happen is when someone is causing blatant problems for the site owners (eg posting something defamatory), or causing problems for the community or authors (see the bit in the Policy about tone and exclusion, also flaming), or causing problems for moderators (wasting our time, or behaving in ways that use up our time).
"What exactly is wrong with the way I present my arguments in your mind?"
We've been through this too many times in the past for me to spend more time explaining it. What I'm not seeing is you taking *any responsibility for your part in the dynamic. When I see that change I'll be more willing to engage.
If you genuinely want to not have a negative impact here (I'm not talking about your politics), then try listening to what people are already saying about how you debate.
TC was using it for political gain to blame Labour.
There is serious need for more nurses, residents, and specialists. There is serious need for more space in ED around the country. There is serious need for better facilities in those spaces – from management systems to radiology. There is serious need for ward space to admit patients from ED. There is serious need for reviewing whether or not we really want residents working 18 hour shifts, or paying off $80k loans while they do it.
There is serious need for increasing access to primary health care so people don't end up at ED.
No.
I was highlighting a problem (one of many) we need to press Labour on.
I acknowledge all those clear needs, and with there being surpluses I come back to a deficit of change.
While not wanting to fan flames, I have some empathy for TCs criticism of inaction.
As do I but I already raised yesterday that the govt has commissioned a major health system change process, so what can we reasonably expect them to do in the meantime before they know where to best put the investment?
It seems likely to be in primary care rather than more big hospitals, and hopefully in proper joined-up IT systems rather than only more people and machines that go ping.
"so what can we reasonably expect them to do in the meantime before they know where to best put the investment?"
From a senior emergency nurse in Mid Central DHB area I have 4 things that can be done alleviate the strain.
A mandatory patient care ratio of 3 patients per nurse (currently it can get up to 6, and some can be very sick).
Increase the capacity on the surgical, medical and orthopedic wards by 5 beds each.
On the night shifts increase the number of doctors on from 3 to 4.
Put 10 more beds in the department. At Palmy, they are in a newish department, one that was woefully under prepared for the growing needs of its population.
That is straight forward, simple to introduce solution for a local hospital that can happen in very short time, before the current review meanders to its conclusions.
I saw that earlier, thanks. I respect the hard work you all do in our hospitals but the usual questions arise when we take a broader view:
– How long would it take to get the extra staff?
– How much would that extra capacity cost across all the hospital wards in NZ?
– Are there other improvements in the health system that could rapidly improve the population's health more for the same money?
The staff are needed, having to know how long it takes is kind of irrelevant.
Employing them is better than delaying or not employing them.
The cost of increasing capacity is the cost needed to do the job.
As for other initiatives, sure give them a go, it doesn't have to be one or the other.
Perhaps see it as a workplace safety issue or responding to society's needs rather than an accounting issue.
Wouldn't that be for the DHB or hospital to sort out?
True, I am not able to speak about their motivations/priorities.
Our local DHB is in the red.
I'm sure most issues in the health system are impacted by inadequate funding (and managerial approaches, I've heard of some really daft stuff). I was meaning more that the govt can't really do much about the situation at your local hospital in terms of staffing and capacity, that would need to be part of the funding round.
Workforce planning is handled nationally but yes any extra budget would have to be allocated through the DHBs, PHOs and NGOs who fund and provide health services. Alphabet soup. 🙂
Is that good that workforce planning is done nationally? Why do they do that?
Can extra funding be allocated at any time if there is sufficient need?
The whole of NZ is the size of a medium world city so having 20 DHBs do their own planning at that level makes little sense. Hence, https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/health-workforce
Funding needs to be in a Budget appropriation approved by parliament. Expect more next year.
Which takes us back to the fiscal responsibility pledge, which was part of getting elected in the first place.
NZ did not elect a revolutionary government. It elected an incrementalist change government, with a significant social conservative streak and fiscal constraints.
You want more change? Get enough people to vote so we have a labgrn government.
While their fiscal responsibility pledge has curtailed them somewhat so has their unwillingness to tax the top 1%.
Additionally, it also comes down to spending priorities. $20 billion on defence in a wellbeing budget doesn't bode well when New Zealanders lives are being put at risk in our hospitals.
No, don't try to play government departments off against each other. NZDF saves lives as well, and protects our EEZ. So does housingNZ, while we're at it. Surprise surprise, everything is underfunded. Has been for years if not decades. This isn't going to be fixed in three years, even if funds were unlimited.
It's about prioritisation of expenditure and what (in a wellbeing budget) will better increase our wellbeing. $20 billion being spent on defence isn't going to do anything for the wellbeing of your average New Zealander.
And seeing as we agree there has been massive under funding, clearly that money needs to be spent here on improving the deficit thus our wellbeing, even if it doesn't go far enough in 3 years. It's a far better start than blowing it on defence.
In an alternate reality you're complaining that our severeignty and ability to honour international agreements are compromised because NZDF equipment is falling apart and the government is doing nothing about it.
You have some very unreal expectations where this government, given it's composition, is concerned. McF has it correct, in that if you (we) want more socially conscious governance, you (we) have to vote for it.
Having said all that, and even though we're not getting the type of outcomes we may want, life is considerably better than it was/would be, under a national party led regime. Remember what that was like?
2 years is never going to be enough time to reverse 9 bollock ones, so instead of the $8 jobs, I'll settle for the $18, down from $45 doctor visits I use to have and wait for the country to mandate any sweeping changes most of us genuine left voters want but realise can't happen and retain electability without one.
On a personal note, I still don't believe you're very left at all.
We did. National are out but unfortunately a number of their policies remain (such as the defence spend and no CGT)
Now that Jacinda is in charge she changed their stance (opposed to Little's position) and decided to blow the funding on defence. Moreover, through away a CGT (delivering on National’s promise in Labour's year of delivery) that would have produced a massive increase in tax revenue. It was only forecast to be tax neutral for the first 5 years.
No we didn't, we almost did, but have to rely on NZ1st to take over the reins.
Next time, without the need for Winston, things could get much better for the left as a genuine mandate would have been given.
Change the numbers in that new coalition to 60:40 red/green, instead of 90:10 and the mandate for real change, from the people, would be undeniably one to turn left and fast.
This is just simple common sense stuff.
2 years is never going to be enough time to reverse 9 bollock ones,
You're surely not forgetting the nine bollock ones before the last nine bollock ones?
Simply put, undoing the last two decades of 'let the shit trickle down' policies is going to take more than the aspirational SSDD twaddle this lot is going to be remembered for.
The mood was right for real transformation…boat missed, ship sailed.
Two decades? Isn't it three and a half? (since the mid 80s).
SSDD?
SSDD?
Same Shit Different Day
Like déjà vu only smelly.
It really stinks.
And yes…it is three and a half decades but I fear many here don't have memories going back that far.
Lol, true. They need reminding.
Without appearing selfish, I did alright out of HC's term in office. Student free loan, a job starting at $10 an hour which was enough to live on and start a family, then a 100% mortgage with kiwi bank when the family thing didn't work out as intended.
Compared to the near 20 years of Thatcher and Major I had before Helen, it was fucking dream.
Can't edit.
Interest free student loan.
20 years of Thatcher and Major I had before I came here.
This is the thing about Labour. They *do do good things too. This is why I disagree with the line that they're the same as National. They're really not.
Yep, of course they're not. Sure they're nowhere near perfect, and far from the old union days, flat caps and full on socialism, but they're certainly not the same as national.
It's a harsh reality for some to take, but we don't live in the 60s and 70s anymore. Our political leanings may, but the majority of the rest of the voting public obviously doesn't. There's a left of labour party right now, and they only pull 6%. I party voted them the last two times and probably will again, but expecting labour to start going for the hard left vote is unrealistic when the reality is it's the centre who currently decide elections, and if the left greens can't pull the numbers, why would labour?
I'm sure, with climate change the driver, when the realities hit home for mum and dad, there will be a real movement for radical change, but until that happens, if it has to be incrementally, then so be it.
Win when you can, but ffs, don't give the game away by knee capping yourselves.
I see it similarly although I think a faster way to get there is ore people voting Green. A L/G govt with more Green MPs than now will be quite different from what we have now.
Back to the beginning, but that's what people have been saying to the chairman for quite a while now, how if you want the left stuff you have to vote for it.
Exactly. The perfect is the enemy of the good, etc.
"so has their unwillingness to tax the top 1%."
Well done "The Chairman" for advocating a way of funding an $8 fee for GP visits (which has been more than met for those up to 13 of course) – to break a pledge made by one of the government parties not to raise income taxes in the first term (I don't have the exact wording, if that's wrong I'm sure someone will correct). I guess advocating meeting one election aim by breaking another is a value judgement you think the government should do, but at least you must appreciate that it is not clear-cut. Righting the wrongs on nine years of neglect by the previous government may take some time – all we can do is point out the reasons why difficult decisions can affect outcomes, and keep voting for a Labour/Green government next time.
And while it is not directly relevant to the thread, "The Chairman," can I ask what you are the Chairman of? or perhaps why you chose that name?
A
sackedresigned former chairman of a DHB comes to mind. Werent there a few that got the jobs for mates scheme Key and Ryall was runningYou'll recall Ryall leaving in a hurry..
The 1% who can buy elections? Damn straight they won't be taxing them fairly.
Don't take this personally…
Do you get that while what yrself and Sacha are saying isn't incorrect, it comes across as being apologists.
Especially to those of us with our nearest and dearest bearing the brunt of chronic underfunding. To hear 'just wait, we will do a review', 'get more people to vote Green', and the excuse I despise the most – 'fiscal responsibility'.
That last one is all about getting re-elected. Because clearly as they are being fiscally responsible business confidence is sky high. #sarc.
It really reeks of drinking too much of that neo liberal raro
People are really hurting: health professionals, public, police and ambos.
Rant over, again, not personal.
Thank you, well said.
Hiya gsays. Agree…more nurses. More experienced HCAs. Doctors with enough time to get a bit of a patient history rather than assuming… or worse…judging. My recent trip via ambulance to the local ED was an eyeopener. Hopefully, now I have a stash of Trammies in case The Pain returns, I will never have to impose on them at ED again.
There are efficiencies that could be made in the system…especially around the availability of ultrasounds and other diagnostic scanning…but hey, keep giving out the opioids and send those pesky patients on their merry way.
You are correct to say less non-emergency patients in EDs by using GPS.
Yes poverty is one of the drivers of the high numbers presenting.
So are the co-morbidities the elderly are living with.
You are simply being insulting or proroundly ignorant to suggest the nurses aren't up to it. The idea of a trough on a night shift shows how ill (see what I did there?) informed you are.
Not insulting nurses. ED have busy and quiet periods. I know Ive been at 3 am.
Clinics and wards are more steady , but of course patients needs can vary at any time.
Highly paid professionals in difficult jobs…its never going to be any different
DukeofUrl –
Travels NZ, surveys everything, knows everything. Been there, done that, you all know diddley-squat.
Please move on; this is not helpful in any way.
Sorry but it helped me. I am so sick of hearing dukeofurl's opinion on everything that actually doesn't add to the topic. However I will give you a break from my opinion.
Ok, I wish you a good weekend and hopefully we’ll see you soon again here.
highly paid profeessionals….so, in denying an insult you add a barb.
get over your self . Are you one of those outsiders the review of the Nurses Union said piled on in on social media trying to upset the apple cart.
Maybe a Tuesday night, was it?
There will always be busy periods. The issue is whether overloaded staff redlining themselves to exhaustion is becoming the norm, and the quiet periods are becoming fewer and fewer.
The only people disappointed will be the doom and gloom merchants saying “well, that wasn’t so bad after all. Y2K? No problem.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/Y2K-bug/
[I don’t allow climate change denial under my posts. See older posts for statements on this – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
The Australian Government spent $12 billion on Y2K and took it very seriously.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/howard-government-feared-slow-y2k-bug-preparations-cabinet-documents-reveal-20181230-p50ot1.html
mod note above for you.
For some much-need counter-balance: Child and Youth Strategy a good start – Plunket, College of Midwives
http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/346630
Yeah nah, resorting to cannibalism probably isn’t a vote winner
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Best you familiarise yourself with cannibalism and the great famines in Western Europe, the New World Jamestown famine cannabilism and cannabilism during twentieth century famines in Eastern Europe and Asia.
/
Siege of Leningrad pops to mind
Read a thing about the Donner Party (settlers in the US 19th century who got trapped in the Sierra Nevadas over winther and et each other).
The local First Nations tribe repeatedly tried to give the Donner Party food, but as soon as they got in sight the settlers would open fire. They took to leaving food at night, but eventually pulled back when the settlers started eating each other. So yeah, bad situation made worse by racism…
I dont particularly like Winston..but even i think this is a bit much..https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/08/30/so-what-would-happen-if-a-political-leader-suddenly-died-lets-say-winston/
lol Winston tweeted a video yesterday…
I've just been reading this and besides an earlier reference to Winston this said all and confirms everything NZers owe him in the past and now
Political Animals – Jane Clifton pages 260-261 (2009)
"Tamihere is almost the anti-Winston. Where Winston is paranoically scrupulous in his personal, financial and political dealings, Tamihere seems reckless. Where Winston would rather wear a polyester shell suit from Postie Plus than accept a golden handshake, or any lump sum, tax-paid or otherwise, Tamihere seems unabashed about his right to be given money, cars, jobs, attention – whatever. Where Winston hyper-researches everything, and be-labours his work rate as a towering virtue, Tamihere rejoices in the impression of coasting, winging it, not getting into a lather because, hey, life is easy for him. He's a natural. Winston is alive, to the point of mania, to any hint, suggestion, situation which might make him look venal or assuming. "
Theres rumour/bullshit around that Tamiheres real aim is to stand for Tamaki Makaurau for the Maori party next year, win or lose and even be Mayor/MP at the same time ?
That maybe his svengali, Matt McCartens big dream
Martyn does seem to be stretching things a bit lately doesn't he? On another posting he seems to be claiming that he alone was responsible for getting Peter Dunne to retire.
"I worked hard on pushing the Feed the Kids Bill and not getting it through Parliament because of Peter Fucking Dunne is the greatest regret of my life (although the strategy to remove him from Ohariu in the 2017 was the perfect vengeance),"
In the case of Winston I think he is simply copying Trotter's story about Ardern dying.
With Winston I am tempted to paraphrase Dorothy Parker's quip about Calvin Coolidge.
If someone was to tell me that Winston was dead the appropriate comment would seem to be "How could they tell?"
Dorothy Parker ?
Many times other people have said she said that, but she doesnt seem to have done so.
Wilson Mizner , a raconteur seems to be the real origin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Mizner
Good grief, that's a low point for Bradbury.
This was the real low point, to which (little brother) Martyn was merely paying homage:
What If Jacinda Was Suddenly Taken From Us – Like "Big Norm"?
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/08/what-if-jacinda-was-suddenly-taken-from.html
that was bad too. I think Bradbury's was worse.
At least Colonel Trotter has an excuse for misty nostalgia..