Despite motorists having a $630 million expressway, new figures show the rush-hour crawl along State Highway 1 between Wellington and the Kāpiti Coast is moving slower than before the new road was built.
A colossal waste of money, based on rhetoric that has been known to be false since at least 1930. Oh, and it’s already falling apart too.
It should be the lead story on TV1 tonight. Something like “National blew two-thirds of a billion dollars on roads where public transport would have sorted-out the problem.”
If we get back our RNZ/TVNZ from the lingering national trolls running our RNZ/TVNZ Media network; – we should/could hear/see more public affairs stories aired then.
Go Minister of broadcasting Claire Cullan take our RNZ back please!!!!!!
Wonder if the recent revelations that Key lied about spying get traction.
It is a concern so many NZers fell for the spell of such a conman and others actually admired his brazen dishonesty.
35 years of neoliberalism poisons people’s minds .
“…….as I try to write in my own voice for a change.” What exactly does that mean ? That he will assume a voice not his own ? For personal gain ? In contrast Ghahraman performed a prosecution and defence function in a transparent, formalised process which no one, not even Paul Quin, challenges. A different quantity entirely from that of the paid propagandist…….a status which with his own words Paul Quin seems to acknowledge.
A couple of thoughts having read that digitaldjeli article;
It’s important to know what people’s motivations are and take that into account when listening to their ‘message’.
In Phil Quin’s case he has acted directly (and probably still does indirectly) in PR consultancy for the Paul Kagame government and at one point specifically for Rwanda Police.
It’s worth noting the Kagame regime and its police and military are heavily criticised for human rights abuses including the use of torture.
In reality Phil’s work in Rwanda involves actively and in current time defending the regime for contemporary abuses and advising them on how to paint any opposition as ‘genocide deniers’. This what he did to Ghahraman.
Interestingly while his website does say he did consultancy work in Rwanda, it doesn’t say it was for the Rwanda police who seem to be indulging in torture. Absolute clarity of course is something he and other RWNJs demand of Ghahraman.
Oddly though the media tells us he is a saint who ‘worked with genocide victims’.
Sorry folks……”Paul” means “Phil”. Don’t want to be unkind to former National Party list MP Paul Quinn whom from my Barrett’s drinking days in Wellington 40 years ago I recall as a pretty convivial character.
I bet he’s been fending off confused media for days. I thought initially it was him – glad it’s not though im not a quin/n fan although I did name my newfy quinn but that was after the dylan song.
I don’t listen to any sort of talkback or bother much with the NZ MSM, so I may be living in a bit of a bubble.
But I have got the distinct feeling from reading social media feedback that the shock jock onslaught on Golriz has fallen flat on it’s face. The “scandal” just refused to develop any legs. The dirty politics machine that feeds the coterie of angry middle aged white male shock jocks & their assorted hangers on like Quinn and Soper never got the wider breakout it was after in it’s attempted character assassination.
I see the old man defeatist of the left Chris Trotter is wringing his hands again at the fecklessness of the Greens political management, but I am wondering a question.
Is the power of the corporate MSM – almost every opinion writer in the Herald, all the “senior correspondents”, Garner, Hoskings, Soper, et al – seriously on the wane in the face of millennial disinterest in the anger and misogyny they are peddling? Are they actually becoming old men waving their fists at clouds as the zeitgeist leaves them behind?
To me, the election outcome indicated that a decisive number of Kiwis no longer get their news from MSM sources. Perhaps the real story of Golriz is the decisive victory of the left’s twitter and FB army over the the attempted smearers?
I think your right, social media is replacing the old style, and it is very effective and also allows interaction by way of commenting directly to the article and with other participants.
The oldies (us) tend to watch or listen to the news, but the level of bias and disregard for true journalism has turned it into a lottery as to is accuracy.
Yes, it’s a paradigm shift in how we consume news. Traditional news services might report ‘The bank was robbed’. We often find out about the robbery via traditional sources but more of us are spending more time with a medium that allows us to function as the social emotionally driven animals we are and articulate how we feel about the robbery.
You’re right Sanctuary……fashioning myself (falsely of course) as young, vibrant, wickedly ‘potent’ and attractively devilish, I don’t give a fuck about Hosking’s Maserati/Ferrari penis-extension, or Garner’s strutty ass, or Soper’s so ‘Gloss’ stubble……they’re old and boring! Of course they get a whiff of my styles and they’ll get very nasty. Mock the fuck out of the boring self-loving fools I reckon.
Don’t know what the outcome was re Rafael and Federico Grozovsky – who bought Onetai Station in 2014?
“The Labour Party revealed last week the brothers had been found criminally responsible for dumping chemicals from their Argentine tannery.
The brothers are linked with Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is at the centre of the Panama Papers revelations about how the rich hide their wealth in overseas trusts.”
Hardly a misdemeanour and all I read was his side plus him saying women tried to touch him up all the time when getting selfies so, you know, what’s the problem with touching a woman’s bare back eh.
Time you trusted someone other than a voice on a radio you know ad.
In a gripping account punctuated by sobs, the Arkansas woman told “Dateline NBC” that in her Little Rock hotel room, Clinton suddenly “turned me around and started kissing me, and that was a real shock. I first pushed him away. I just told him ‘no.’ . . . He tries to kiss me again. He starts biting on my lip. . . . And then he forced me down on the bed. I just was very frightened. I tried to get away from him. I told him ‘no.’ . . . He wouldn’t listen to me.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/broaddrick022599.htm
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Why do I always feel the need to go and have a shower after listening to a Guyon Espiner interview on Morning Report ? Is it because of his ill concealed political bias towards the Right ? Is it the, I don’t know, slimy way he tries to undermine the thought train of the interviewee? His constant interrupting ? There is so much I just feel is creepy.
His interview with David Parker this am. was a classic example of his style. Or lack of it !
Guyon always strikes me as the deputy head prefect of Scots College about 40 years ago…..the one who puzzled everybody on account of his frequent disappearances into the admin block (read headmaster’s office) during periods. Suspected but no one knew for sure that he was in there tittle-tattling on everyone. With those ever so earnest slappy little wettish ‘public’ schoolboy lips. Nothing against him mind ‘cept he’s basically a well fed, well housed, well warmed Tory. Who just cannot keep his fucking mouth shut as subjects attempt to answer questions he’s put to them. Very naughty !
I think sky TV just wants to domanate our sports broad casting and squeeze more money out of us so a big no to there actions to ban some Internet sites.
I take offence to the statement of of William Gallagher. If I examine what happened in the 18th century with NZ Maori and the settlers the way I see it is that Maori did not have any concept of land being sold traded we were part of mother earth. Maori had no notion of assets and that assets appreciated in price so Maori had no concept of the value of land or assets. So does one think that all Maori land was traded in a fair and just way we’ll no because that would be like I played a game of scrabble against my 10 year old granddaughter. You no that at the end of the game I will own all the assets and my granddaughter will have non because she doesn’t no the value of assets and how money works. So you no that my hiperthetal game with my granddaughter would be un fair and this is a fact being ignored by the other cultures of NZ. The neo liberals drilibritly leave a lot of fact out of OUR treaty settlement process like the 1¢ in the dollar reparation Maori are getting. So please don’t let national play the racial card to divide and conquer us left voters . I have had someone say your people sold there land for blankets and wanted more money later on. They in reality thought that they were leasing Maori land out not selling it out right. Well that’s my opinion Kai kaha
Why are the MSN not picking up the story on shonky key and the NSA Speargun project this was a massive attempt by key to control everything in NZ WTF Come on people we need this story out there in the public view so this can never be imposed on us I got a bad feeling when I first seen shonky key. Ana tou kai
I think there are enough confusing stories about this that it is not unreasonable to think that some people have tried to rewrite history (or at least have deliberately confused the situation at certain times).
(Yes – I got this link from Kiwi blog – but that does not change the words or the misleading nature of Shaws speech.
It’s true James you are just a spinner with real true rginal thinking – oh deary the right are very scared and desperate now – soon they’ll have you sniffing through rubbish bins for dirt James lol that’s opposition for ya.
Actually it was not an incorrect statement. She has worked as a prosecutor for the UN’s International Criminal Tribunals around the world – as well as defence counsel.
I am proud of many of my former students, but the one I am most proud of is Golriz Ghahraman, who took my international criminal law course many years ago at the University of Auckland and is still a dear friend. In the years since my course, Golriz has worked on the Karadzic case, earned an MSt in human rights from Oxford, served as a prosecutor at the Cambodia tribunal, and developed a glittering legal practice representing the powerless and disenfranchised in New Zealand. Most impressive of all, though, just a few weeks ago Golriz became the first refugee MP in New Zealand history — she and her family fled Iran when she was a young girl — as a member of the Green Party.
Golriz’s success is a tribute to hard work and commitment, and I can only imagine how inspirational her story must be for refugees and women in New Zealand and elsewhere. Which is why I am furious — absolutely furious — about an attack on Golriz written by “a former Labour staffer in New Zealand and Australia” named Phil Quin that is as mendacious as it is shameless.
Golriz’s sin, in Quin’s eyes? Having the temerity to work as a defence attorney on the Nzirorera and Bikindi cases at the ICTR:
She said it was “incredibly important” even genocide-accused had a sound defence.
In the Rwandan example, the nation had been marred by “generations of prejudice and hate” feeding into outbursts of violence and “this was the worst case of it in 1994”.
“But if you leave it, or you perpetrate victor’s justice then you leave this legacy of groups blaming each other as groups and people coming around to a vendetta generations later,“
I don’t know why you bother James. From what I can see you’ve stated only facts and quotes from the people involved. You’re wasting your time trying to defend yourself against those who either have a case of cognitive dissonance or are simply unable to admit they are wrong.
The point, James, is that Shaw (by the words you attribute to him) was absolutely correct in what he said. She worked in prosecution teams.
Anyway. Apart from the bullshit being peddled by some (eg – yourself James), I’m left wondering if some of the angst coming from others is rooted in some bullshit notionof morality that would have us believe the UN always prosecutes for the good, and therefore to be good, someone must be on the side of the prosecution.
You get the kerfuffle that human rights lawyers ensure the human rights of everyone, right?
You get the point that even though the system might be adversarial, the same organisation ensured everyone got fair representation, because that’s how human rights work, right?
“Golriz is now a human rights lawyer who worked as a prosecutor”
I answered to that.
I don’t understand the kerfuffle. The UN is an institution that exercises power. And just like any other institutional power, it’s not intrinsically benevolent or any such like.
Which is why I wrote the second part to my previous comment (maybe you missed it).
Boiling it all down a bunch of stinking misogynistic Tories don’t like a woman like Golriz because she has what all of them and theirs, and that fumes-spewing D10 Caterpillar Bennett, don’t have……brains, elan, and guts.
Whilst I know I am just feeding a troll who already knows this, I have decided to actually engage you in this.
Having read the link finally (your link doesn’t work, and I wouldn’t trust anything from Kiwiblog unless i can find it via google), it does appear to be an error by James Shaw. I don’t think he deliberately lied, but merely got it wrong (or at least his speech write got it wrong and no one picked it up). The focus of the speech was not on the new candidates, but on the Green’s commitment to change the government for the betterment of everyone. The bits about Golriz Ghahraman seems a bit of a last minute(ish) inclusion, due to releasing the party list that morning.
I do think that most of this (the greater Ghahraman mud-slinging) has been blown up because of a lack of understanding on what the court systems are actually like, as well as a desire to be concise by PR people (hence the wording on the website). It would appear that the speech writer for this speech also misunderstood the words used, and that Ghahraman was to polite to correct her leader on a minor point in a public forum.
Sorry re link – for some reason it dropped the .pdf off at the end.
“it does appear to be an error by James Shaw. I don’t think he deliberately lied, but merely got it wrong (or at least his speech write got it wrong and no one picked it up).”
This may well be true – but it seems unusual that several papers have gotten it wrong, and each time she ends up prosecuting. And then she never reads the articles (or her greens party bio) and corrects the mistake.
It appears to me that the only time she was said to be a prosecutor on the trials was this speech by Shaw. Any other time was just saying he was a part of the trial, and any time she was asked she said she was part of the defense. The only issue is people like you with a bone to pick not understanding what the words actually mean and choosing a different interpretation of the slightly ambiguous original statement on the greens website (which was a true account of what happened, just keeping things concise). Also the mudslinging by someone with skin in the game who seems to be someone who had conflicts of interest (and opinion)
I am not sure what cover up or conspiracy you think is happening.
Also re link… even putting the .pdf on didn’t open the file.
It appears the guardian got it wrong in the original article and have now amended once someone noticed. I still don’t see a conspiracy, other than lazy people making assumptions about someone else without clarifying.
…it seems unusual that several papers have gotten it wrong, and each time she ends up prosecuting.
Doesn’t seem unusual to me. Lazy buggers jump to conclusions and don’t check them, in this case the assumption that a human rights lawyer working on war crimes cases would be prosecuting. DPF based this whole dirty-politics hit on that assumption, so it’s hardly surprising there are journos who make the same assumption. Fact is, we know she did mention to interviewers that she was involved in defence as well as prosecution – if lazy bastards reported it otherwise, that’s their mistake, not hers.
Come on, be fair – you guys have to work really hard to feel misled over this.
to do so you have to ignore everything she’s said, and her CV, and assume that she personally vetted the wording used by every reporter, editor, and speechmaker who felt compelled to say/write a couple of sentences about her background.
“Fact is, we know she did mention to ONE interviewer”.
Well, if you’re counting, we know she mentioned it to two: Kirsty Johnston and whoever did the Vice interview.
But so what? Do you have some basis to suspect she might have been happy to talk about her defence role to one or two interviewers, but to others she decided to give the misleading impression she’d only worked as a prosecutor? Because that sounds laughable to me.
Now, upthread you accused James Shaw of telling a lie because of a mistake he made in a speech. In your mind mistakenly saying something untrue = telling a lie. You just made a mistake in what you said about Golriz so I think it appropriate from now on we call you a liar.
Today I’m going to call you a fucking liar, because you’ve obviously not bothered to follow the story even in the MSM but are quite happy to spread lies about Ghahraman from a place of being ill informed. That looks like out and out prejudice to me. That you are doing so in a clear dirty politics context makes you a dirty politics apologist (at the least).
If none of that is true, if you’re not a fucking liar, bigot and dirty politics apologist, don’t @ me here, demonstrate it in your behaviour over the next week and month and year. Because the shit that is going on right now in NZ is dangerous for democracy and the well being of this country and you are going to have to pick a side. I’m not talking left right here, I’m talking right and wrong in terms of ethics.
James – never have I known someone to spend so much time and effort claiming they were right when the leader of a political party later openly admitted it was so, but in such a non-issue of irrelevance.
You have succeeded, I think, in helping NZ to understand that the empty diatribes directed at Golriz are nothing more than that.
Thanks for your help, James. Legal experts who universally exonerate Golriz (find one who condemns her) would probably also like to thank you.
You seem to be over-investing in this Golriz bizo James. what’s up ? Maybe you should give it a break and try Bitcoin. Sir john Key’s running seminars you know….
That whole “Quin back-tracking and apologising” thing must have hurt, James! You’d backed him to the hilt, invested in his claims and suddenly, gosh, sorry everyone, I was wrong; you must have felt a right git!
No – he backtracked on calling her a genocide denyer (something that I did not mention at all in my post – I doubt anyone could be involved in any side of this and be one).
But – the rest continue to raise legitimate questions about people being misled.
Good that it’s across media but they still won’t say what exactly Phil Quin did in Rwanda.
As described above and in the other thread he worked directly for the undemocratic Kagame regime and the Rwandan Police force. Apart from the imprisonment of opposition figures, there are serious questions about brutality and the use of torture by that government and its machinery in order to hold onto power.
Phil Quin appears to have facilitated that and advised them on how to shut down dissent.
I’d like to see the media get to the bottom of his story too instead of calling him a former Labour staffer and portraying him as some sort of missionary figure.
This (hopefully) my final tweet on all this – Phil Quin repeatedly said Peter Robinson, co-author of article with @golrizghahraman, was a genocide denier. Never gave evidence when I asked for it. Another int'l law academic rejects another Phil Quin claim: https://t.co/8SlKikvzSd— Max Harris (@mdnharris) November 28, 2017
Dov Jacobs is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Leiden University (one of the best universities in Europe for international law). More on him if you want to check his background here: https://t.co/ipJdPFD1vA. /2— Max Harris (@mdnharris) November 28, 2017
The part of the program where the Vice Chancellor has her turn is a classic tirade of un – punctuated corporatespeak.
I seriously believe it was a robot speaking as barely was there any pause for breath.
Impressive, and disturbing that again Kiwi science (and surprisingly, nursing) will take yet another hit.
Ryan did eventually get the VC to stop speaking and tried to get a couple of salient questions to her …but sadly….only succeeded in pushing ‘play’ again.
It was bloody painful to listen to the woman!
I almost felt embarassed for her.
But when all said and done, her and her ilk are the natural consequence of commoditising education. The business of business, everything costed and fuck all valued.
This is her last line of defence.
If the leader coming out with a mea culpa doesn’t shift the media narrative, I can’t see her surviving.
Pretty starkly obvious that the Beehive media team are intent on solely protecting their government, otherwise they would have put a fresh story out there to compete with the Gharaman one.
Robertson will change the narrative with the 6 monthly budgetary review set peice tomorrow, but a week is a long, long time to swing in the cold media air.
No Ad. Shaw has apologised about what he said about Ghahraman.
I admit to being somewhat aghast at the pathetic handling of all this. It does. not. bode well. That said, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why she won’t “survive” (as you put it).
Looks to me like normal GP response. Seeing a mistake and acknowledging it. It’s what adults do. Hardly putting one’s body on the line to say yep there’s a mistake in one line of a speech I gave 6 months ago, my bad.
Well Ad, if your take is correct, and given this wee doozy in the piece you linked, it ain’t working…
Ghahraman worked in the defence team as an unpaid intern at the Rwanda Tribunal for Joseph Nzirorera, who died before he could be convicted of genocide…
The rest of that para goes on to mention that Simon Bikindi (the guy beside her in the photo doing the rounds) was convicted of “incitement to genocide”.
Doesn’t mention that the prosecution was seeking conviction on the weightier charges of genocide, or that they tried to use his fucking song lyrics as evidence!
In December 2008, Bikindi was sentenced to 15 years in prison with credit for 7 years already served, for incitement to commit genocide. The conviction stemmed from the fact that the court considered it proved beyond reasonable doubt that towards the end of June 1994 he had made a speech from an Interahamwe vehicle equipped with a Public address system, urging and subsequently reminding the Hutu population to exterminate all Tutsis, whom he referred to as “snakes”.[17] All the other charges were dismissed; in particular, the court considered that while some songs had an inciting character, they had all been written before 1994, thus before the genocide, and that there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Bikindi had played a role in the dissemination of his songs on radio during the genocide, or that he had personally engaged in killings or organising of militias
Those journalists involved in Winston Peters complaint re his alleged leaked personal superannuation overpayment details, are now quite agitated. RW journalists have approached their union for assistance, claiming Peters is harassing them, interfering with the right of freedom of speech!
WTF!!!!!
In the past nine years, journalists of the right wing persuasion, have never acted as the proxy of the people, giving Key and Natz a smooth run all the way through! In fact they still are playing Natz’s game of dirty politics. Golriz being a very recent prime example of their biased sewer tactics!
Draining of that cesspit of squalor, is proving to be not such an easy task!
Anyway as old Jonesy would have said “they don’t like it up ’em!” Too bloody right they don’t. I hope Winston wins his case.
“Anyway as old Jonesy would have said “they don’t like it up ’em!” Too bloody right they don’t. I hope Winston wins his case.”
Fair enough – everyone is entitled to their views . But can you please state one thing in Winstons case against the journalists that they should be sued for?
Should Journo’s be able to be sued for publishing something that is true?
I think that will come down to Winston’s lawyers being able to prove that a man that was asking the nation to vote for him had his prospects hobbled by a published manipulation of the truth.
I guess it’s going cost Winston 1000’s to have that question explored James. Days of chewing it over in court. A bet that wiley old fox is unlikely to be making unless the trainer has had a word in his ear. My 2 bob are on Winston’s horse.
And my bet is that this case of Winnies will be paid for by the taxpayer.
I wonder if the agreement for the Crown to pay for all the costs of Winnies’ Court Cases was one of the items in the 38 pages that JA is insisting on hiding from the New Zealand public?
Along with the instructions that no-one from the Green Party is to be allowed into any position of power in the Government.
He’s not sueing journalists. He’s asking for the communication, if any, between them and senior government figures.
In this case it’s the apparent collusion between the government of the day and the media to do an expose on a political rival. You say the media decides the public interest but when the leak came from government offices it’s all a bit murky.
Uninformed about a two day old development? Guilty!
As the article says this was not in the original claim. The original claim asked for information on communications between ministers, senior public servants, and the media in oder to get to the bottom of what Peters considers an illegal leak.
Looks like the judge wants Peters to state his further intentions now if a case for civil action can be made against some or all of these parties. For what reason I don’t know – I’m not a lawyer. But if a case can be made that these two members of the media colluded with government ministers or staff on the release of Peters’ confidential information and that the action is unlawful then yes, sue them for damages.
Now, it looks like you’ve gotten yourself into trouble for calling people liars all day. Perhaps you just need to wind your neck in.
James (19.1) … Winston Peters’ superannuation details are private and confidential. The journalists concerned breached confidentiality, which is or should be sacrosanct.
True or not, the disclosure of Winston’s overpayment was obviously done with malice, to hit NZF at the last election.
I have not had time to keep up with everything on TS in the last few days, so sorry if this is repeating information elsewhere here, but here are a few statements on the criticism of Golriz Ghahraman from various NZ legal organisations
No doubt, the Greens can be irritatingly sanctimonious at times. But so can Steven Joyce. And Ghahraman’s frankness about her past career has made for an interesting contrast with another politician – former PM Bill English – whose own party also packaged him in glowing personal terms. Throughout 2017, we all heard a great deal about Honest Bill, the no frills, straight shooter from Dipton etc even while English peddled patent untruths about the Barclay affair, and Labour’s tax plans. Ultimately, if the likes of David Farrar and Jordan Williams want to campaign for political truth in packaging, maybe they should start closer to home. Because in that regard, Golriz Ghahraman seems to be the least of our problems.
Theresa May condemns addled dotard for promoting far right hate, addled dotard replies to the wrong Theresa May.
Theresa @theresamay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2017
lol!
🙄 gezz that man is an idiot, bigot, xenophobe and sexual predator and he just gets worse.
HTF anyone could have voted for him – Oh I know! He’s the most popular President ever – with the alt right.
This week in the house,the opposition have been baiting the speaker about his ruling impartiality.Listening from day one, of our coalition government,the speaker has introduce simple rules,that fairly access those on both sides a supplementary question add on,if one or other side stepped out of line.Today being Thursday,home time for the polo!s,was simple SIMON,looking for a quick exit from the house,as he belligerent challenged the speaker,who has been serious fair,and not ejected anyone yet.
Your assuming that surveys of business confidence are a meaningful measure of something, and that that ‘something’ is important.
These are contentious assumptions.
Also, say I went to a group of people and asked “are you happy that the party you didn’t vote for is in government?” Would I then make great play of the fact that they said “no” – as though that told me something new?
Society is not an appendage of business – get used to it.
The evidence shows business leaders are naturally less confident about the wider economy when there’s a Labour Government in charge, yet they remain relatively more confident about their own businesses. Hence any slump in wider business confidence is more a reflection of business leaders’ pro-National bias than a genuine slide in confidence linked to conditions on the ground.
Interestingly the town talk here is that things are quiet…
Can’t say I have noticed it – the usual summer rush is upon us now with the supermarket queues increasing in length, and parking spaces becoming tighter by the day. But you know – consumerism has to be alive and well.
I guess the hype for Black Friday which really is a north american thing didn’t result in a rush to the special bins – oh dear! Long faces. Let’s blame it on the Govt.
I suspect that nine years of the “right wing bonfire” has produced a predictable result. Treasury’s been saying for a while that the economy’s sustained by immigration, as opposed to innovation.
Duck,put away the book you,have cherished this seat you hold,get your shit together and get on with it.Or is the other side correct challenging your competence.
On one hand
“Peters plans to ignore the advice of top officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and will introduce the royalty which was promised in the Labour-New Zealand First coalition agreement.”
On the other
“But Parker backed Vitalis. He told reporters export taxes were prohibited by all of New Zealand’s trade agreements “so we have got to find a remedy that is consistent with those obligations.”
and what was promised:
“Labour and New Zealand First’s coalition agreement specifically includes a provision to “introduce a royalty on exports of bottled water.”
Despite the number of well-written and accurate responses, the howls of outrage regarding Golriz Ghahraman continue. All howls and no ears.
A pack of pseudo- alphas running round in circles claiming to be another one who managed to draw blood.
When you have someone who considers themselves not only a self-made man, but a well-made man, the mere existence of people who go through life concerned about such abstract issues as human rights, equality or environment make them extremely uncomfortable.
The self-image of such people requires a narrow mirror, (and the necessary absence of any comparative value systems.)
Otherwise:
– next to a compassionate person they appear vindictive,
– next to a truthful person they look deceitful,
– next to a honorable person, they look soulless,
– next to a thoughtful person, they look witless,
– next to a kind person, they look venal,
– next to a whole person, they look piecemeal.
It is so much simpler to believe that they are the top of the heap, even if it is a vindictive, deceitful, soulless, witless, venal, piecemeal heap. (The thought that not everyone cares to climb that particular pile is particularly galling, and is dismissed as soon as it occurs.)
The delight to discover – or create – a perceived link in the chainmail of a shining knight!
The passionate dismantling of words, punctuation marks and edited articles shows a discernment for clarity and fullness not often exhibited by those who are currently engaging in such a dazzling display of wordplay gymnastics.
I’ve been reading the comments by some of our own Standard rightwingers, and I find it hard to give them any credit at all, as they wilfully disengage when responses show their logic failures, and their stated standard of accuracy and reality is so far removed from their usual lassez-faire approach to truth and honesty that it is pitiful.
And despite it all, the truth is one that Ghahraman does not have to apologise for.
We are once again witnessing an example of deliberately, and falsely representing facts in order to diminish someone – in order to ignore their voice.
Also given published papers that confirm the falseness of our last PM, a suspiciously timed case of DP, or at very least a prime example of bullying. By grown adults who should know better.
I do feel a kind of embarrassment for them, which does not make a difference in the scheme of things but does make me wonder: Do they have such low standards for themselves that these actions are supposedly elevating them?
…and why the hell are we still giving them an audience?
The evangelical nut jobs gotta have Jews to fulfill their end times body count so they can get themselves raptured AF.
The Israeli gov't says Trump is going to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital shortly, probably by this coming Sunday, on the back of Evangelist pressure. Also: moving the embassy to Jerusalem. https://t.co/YHIS5aXlX7— Lisa Goldman (@lisang) November 29, 2017
We shall be thankful for the Parlamentry break.A break bleating,do i need another three years.Who shall lead our hope.Bingo number, crusher,number basher,number blond.Desporation,is in the wind.
Winston is entitled to search for the truth about who leaked his private information, it is our rights to seek justice and if anyone has an issue with this then we have a real problem as when justice is not done the society will break down as we all bekieve in justice being served.
Date for court is 7th December so come on you two Journalists!! let us see them if you have nothing to hide whats the issue? do you want to impeade justice being sought?
James, James, James…….. the material Hagar included in his book has been proven to be of benefit to the pubic interest/good. If you don’t recall or didn’t read the book it clearly outs the whole machine behind Dirty Politics, names names and uses the “stolen” emails as proof as to the characters hard at work.
Yes, we all acknowledge there was a hack, and the hacker realising the material he obtained outlined nasty behavior by shitty people passed that material on in what I would call a whistle blower action.
The hacking of the oily one was an action that was illegal.
The whistle blowing and publishing of the material was not………… else Hagar would have been dragged through the courts or sued by people named in the book ( funny thing that not a single person named in the book has brought any proceedings against Hagar…………… wonder why that is???)
This was found to be in the public interest/good.
The invasion of privacy of a citizen (who was also a politician) revealed no information that was in the public interest/good, the initial mistake which lead to the overpayment was a MSD error (some 50,000 others also were overpaid in the same period) and clearly was a leak with the aim to discredit Winston and have a negative impact on NZF come polling day.
So Clean Green and others are not being hypocritical about this issue and your whole argument is tosh same as the BS you peddled with Golriz.
Oh and how bout that John Key fella being found out lying to NZ about Speargun?? Maybe he’ll keep his word and resign.
We had a Prime Minister who for years lied about many things large and small. More of those lies come to be known as time marches on.
And on a site like this I find someone accusing of James Shaw of lying and acting as if it is one the crime of the century or at least he is unfit for the job he is in.
I personally don’t think he did lie, but say he did. What would be the real import of what he did? Is democracy at risk? Did a Government get to be in power because of it?
One thing the past few years has taught us is that lying is okay. It’s what you do. Well it’s what people like John Key and Bill English were accustomed to doing and accomplished at.
The outrage by the champions of Key, English, McCully, Collins and Co. at the thought of politicians other than National lying at once makes me want to laugh, to spew and also say, “Fuck off.”
Ever hear the saying “don’t vote, it just encourages them”? What about “they’re all as bad as each other”? Or maybe “they’re all liars, just out for the money”?
All of those lines that are used to discourage people from voting, to get them to opt-out of following what’s being done to them and in their name.
That’s what lets 47% tories win government.
There’s only one side that has habitual and orchestrated liar, and they want everyone to think all the parties are as bad as they are. Because then they win.
Thanks for the video escort to Auckland but you have to tell the people in front of me to drive a bit faster or at least 90klm lol. We are visiting my daughter and mokos while Iv got a couple of days off. Could see they were trying to drum up some drama they must behave like this to make up for there other inadequacy. lol Kia kaha
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Good Friday, 18th April, 2025: I can at last unveil the Secret Non-Fiction Project. The first complete Latin-to-English translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s twelve-book Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology). Amounting to some 174,000 words, total. Some context is probably in order. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) ...
National MP Hamish Campbell's pathetic attempt to downplay his deep ties to and involvement in the Two by Twos...a secretive religious sect under FBI and NZ Police investigation for child sexual abuse...isn’t just a misstep; it’s a calculated lie that insults the intelligence of every Kiwi voter.Campbell’s claim of being ...
New Zealand First’s Shane Jones has long styled himself as the “Prince of the Provinces,” a champion of regional development and economic growth. But beneath the bluster lies a troubling pattern of behaviour that reeks of cronyism and corruption, undermining the very democracy he claims to serve. Recent revelations and ...
Give me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundGive me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundSaid I don't want to leave you lonelyYou got to make me change my mindSongwriters: Tracy Chapman.Morena, and Happy Easter, whether that means to you. Hot cross buns, ...
New Zealand’s housing crisis is a sad indictment on the failures of right wing neoliberalism, and the National Party, under Chris Luxon’s shaky leadership, is trying to simply ignore it. The numbers don’t lie: Census data from 2023 revealed 112,496 Kiwis were severely housing deprived...couch-surfing, car-sleeping, or roughing it on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on a global survey of over 3,000 economists and scientists showing a significant divide in views on green growth; and ...
Simeon Brown, the National Party’s poster child for hubris, consistently over-promises and under-delivers. His track record...marked by policy flip-flops and a dismissive attitude toward expert advice, reveals a politician driven by personal ambition rather than evidence. From transport to health, Brown’s focus seems fixed on protecting National's image, not addressing ...
Open access notables Recent intensified riverine CO2 emission across the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region, Mu et al., Nature Communications:Global warming causes permafrost thawing, transferring large amounts of soil carbon into rivers, which inevitably accelerates riverine CO2 release. However, temporally and spatially explicit variations of riverine CO2 emissions remain unclear, limiting the ...
Once a venomous thorn in New Zealand’s blogosphere, Cathy Odgers, aka Cactus Kate, has slunk into the shadows, her once-sharp quills dulled by the fallout of Dirty Politics.The dishonest attack-blogger, alongside her vile accomplices such as Cameron Slater, were key players in the National Party’s sordid smear campaigns, exposed by Nicky ...
Once upon a time, not so long ago, those who talked of Australian sovereign capability, especially in the technology sector, were generally considered an amusing group of eccentrics. After all, technology ecosystems are global and ...
The ACT Party leader’s latest pet project is bleeding taxpayers dry, with $10 million funneled into seven charter schools for just 215 students. That’s a jaw-dropping $46,500 per student, compared to roughly $9,000 per head in state schools.You’d think Seymour would’ve learned from the last charter school fiasco, but apparently, ...
India navigated relations with the United States quite skilfully during the first Trump administration, better than many other US allies did. Doing so a second time will be more difficult, but India’s strategic awareness and ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is concerned for low-income workers given new data released by Stats NZ that shows inflation was 2.5% for the year to March 2025, rising from 2.2% in December last year. “The prices of things that people can’t avoid are rising – meaning inflation is rising ...
Last week, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment recommended that forestry be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Its an unfortunate but necessary move, required to prevent the ETS's total collapse in a decade or so. So naturally, National has told him to fuck off, and that they won't be ...
China’s recent naval circumnavigation of Australia has highlighted a pressing need to defend Australia’s air and sea approaches more effectively. Potent as nuclear submarines are, the first Australian boats under AUKUS are at least seven ...
In yesterday’s post I tried to present the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement for 2025-30, as approved by the Minister of Finance and the Bank’s Board, in the context of the previous agreement, and the variation to that agreement signed up to by Grant Robertson a few weeks before the last ...
Australia’s bid to co-host the 31st international climate negotiations (COP31) with Pacific island countries in late 2026 is directly in our national interest. But success will require consultation with the Pacific. For that reason, no ...
Old and outdated buildings being demolished at Wellington Hospital in 2018. The new infrastructure being funded today will not be sufficient for future population size and some will not be built by 2035. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Thursday, April 17:Simeon Brown has unveiled ...
The introduction of AI in workplaces can create significant health and safety risks for workers (such as intensification of work, and extreme surveillance) which can significantly impact workers’ mental and physical wellbeing. It is critical that unions and workers are involved in any decision to introduce AI so that ...
Donald Trump’s return to the White House and aggressive posturing is undermining global diplomacy, and New Zealand must stand firm in rejecting his reckless, fascist-driven policies that are dragging the world toward chaos.As a nation with a proud history of peacekeeping and principled foreign policy, we should limit our role ...
Sunday marks three months since Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. What a ride: the style rude, language raucous, and the results rogue. Beyond manners, rudeness matters because tone signals intent as well as personality. ...
There are any number of reasons why anyone thinking of heading to the United States for a holiday should think twice. They would be giving their money to a totalitarian state where political dissenters are being rounded up and imprisoned here and here, where universities are having their funds for ...
Taiwan has an inadvertent, rarely acknowledged role in global affairs: it’s a kind of sponge, soaking up much of China’s political, military and diplomatic efforts. Taiwan soaks up Chinese power of persuasion and coercion that ...
The Ukraine war has been called the bloodiest conflict since World War II. As of July 2024, 10,000 women were serving in frontline combat roles. Try telling them—from the safety of an Australian lounge room—they ...
Following Canadian authorities’ discovery of a Chinese information operation targeting their country’s election, Australians, too, should beware such risks. In fact, there are already signs that Beijing is interfering in campaigning for the Australian election ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). From "founder" of Tesla and the OG rocket man with SpaceX, and rebranding twitter as X, Musk has ...
Back in February 2024, a rat infestation attracted a fair few headlines in the South Dunedin Countdown supermarket. Today, the rats struck again. They took out the Otago-Southland region’s internet connection. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360656230/internet-outage-hits-otago-and-southland Strictly, it was just a coincidence – rats decided to gnaw through one fibre cable, while some hapless ...
I came in this morning after doing some chores and looked quickly at Twitter before unpacking the groceries. Someone was retweeting a Radio NZ story with the headline “Reserve Bank’s budget to be slashed by 25%”. Wow, I thought, the Minister of Finance has really delivered this time. And then ...
So, having teased it last week, Andrew Little has announced he will run for mayor of Wellington. On RNZ, he's saying its all about services - "fixing the pipes, making public transport cheaper, investing in parks, swimming pools and libraries, and developing more housing". Meanwhile, to the readers of the ...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1921ALL OVER THE WORLD, devout Christians will be reaching for their bibles, reading and re-reading Revelation 13:16-17. For the benefit of all you non-Christians out there, these are the verses describing ...
Give me what I want, what I really, really want: And what India really wants from New Zealand isn’t butter or cheese, but a radical relaxation of the rules controlling Indian immigration.WHAT DOES INDIA WANT from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Yesterday, 5,500 senior doctors across Aotearoa New Zealand voted overwhelmingly to strike for a day.This is the first time in New Zealand ASMS members have taken strike action for 24 hours.They are asking the government tofund them and account for resource shortfalls.Vacancies are critical - 45-50% in some regions.The ...
For years and years and years, David Seymour and his posse of deluded neoliberals have been preaching their “tough on crime” gospel to voters. Harsher sentences! More police! Lock ‘em up! Throw away the key. But when it comes to their own, namely former Act Party president Tim Jago, a ...
Judith Collins is a seasoned master at political hypocrisy. As New Zealand’s Defence Minister, she's recently been banging the war drum, announcing a jaw-dropping $12 billion boost to the defence budget over the next four years, all while the coalition of chaos cries poor over housing, health, and education.Apparently, there’s ...
I’m on the London Overground watching what the phones people are holding are doing to their faces: The man-bun guy who could not be less impressed by what he's seeing but cannot stop reading; the woman who's impatient for a response; the one who’s frowning; the one who’s puzzled; the ...
You don't have no prescriptionYou don't have to take no pillsYou don't have no prescriptionAnd baby don't have to take no pillsIf you come to see meDoctor Brown will cure your ills.Songwriters: Waymon Glasco.Dr Luxon. Image: David and Grok.First, they came for the Bottom FeedersAnd I did not speak outBecause ...
The Health Minister says the striking doctors already “well remunerated,” and are “walking away from” and “hurting” their patients. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Wednesday, April 16:Simeon Brown has attacked1 doctors striking for more than a 1.5% pay rise as already “well remunerated,” even ...
The time is ripe for Australia and South Korea to strengthen cooperation in space, through embarking on joint projects and initiatives that offer practical outcomes for both countries. This is the finding of a new ...
Hi,When Trump raised tariffs against China to 145%, he destined many small businesses to annihilation. The Daily podcast captured the mass chaos by zooming in and talking to one person, Beth Benike, a small-business owner who will likely lose her home very soon.She pointed out that no, she wasn’t surprised ...
National’s handling of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is an utter shambles and a gutless betrayal of every Kiwi scraping by. The Coalition of Chaos Ministers strut around preaching about how effective their policies are, but really all they're doing is perpetuating a cruel and sick joke of undelivered promises, ...
Most people wouldn't have heard of a little worm like Rhys Williams, a so-called businessman and former NZ First member, who has recently been unmasked as the venomous troll behind a relentless online campaign targeting Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle.According to reports, Williams has been slinging mud at Doyle under ...
Illustration credit: Jonathan McHugh (New Statesman)The other day, a subscriber said they were unsubscribing because they needed “some good news”.I empathised. Don’t we all.I skimmed a NZME article about the impacts of tariffs this morning with analysis from Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr. Kerr, their Chief Economist, suggested another recession is the ...
Let’s assume, as prudence demands we assume, that the United States will not at any predictable time go back to being its old, reliable self. This means its allies must be prepared indefinitely to lean ...
Over the last three rather tumultuous US trade policy weeks, I’ve read these four books. I started with Irwin (whose book had sat on my pile for years, consulted from time to time but not read) in a week of lots of flights and hanging around airports/hotels, and then one ...
Indonesia could do without an increase in military spending that the Ministry of Defence is proposing. The country has more pressing issues, including public welfare and human rights. Moreover, the transparency and accountability to justify ...
Former Hutt City councillor Chris Milne has slithered back into the spotlight, not as a principled dissenter, but as a vindictive puppeteer of digital venom. The revelations from a recent court case paint a damning portrait of a man whose departure from Hutt City Council in 2022 was merely the ...
That's the conclusion of a report into security risks against Green MP Benjamin Doyle, in the wake of Winston Peters' waging a homophobic hate-campaign against them: GRC’s report said a “hostility network” of politicians, commentators, conspiracy theorists, alternative media outlets and those opposed to the rainbow community had produced ...
That's the conclusion of a report into security risks against Green MP Benjamin Doyle, in the wake of Winston Peters' waging a homophobic hate-campaign against them: GRC’s report said a “hostility network” of politicians, commentators, conspiracy theorists, alternative media outlets and those opposed to the rainbow community had produced ...
National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
The economy is not doing what it was supposed to when PM Christopher Luxon said in January it was ‘going for growth.’ Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short from our political economy on Tuesday, April 15:New Zealand’s economic recovery is stalling, according to business surveys, retail spending and ...
This is a guest post by Lewis Creed, managing editor of the University of Auckland student publication Craccum, which is currently running a campaign for a safer Symonds Street in the wake of a horrific recent crash.The post has two parts: 1) Craccum’s original call for safety (6 ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff has published an opinion piece which makes the case for a different approach to economic development, as proposed in the CTU’s Aotearoa Reimagined programme. The number of people studying to become teachers has jumped after several years of low enrolment. The coalition has directed Health New ...
The growth of China’s AI industry gives it great influence over emerging technologies. That creates security risks for countries using those technologies. So, Australia must foster its own domestic AI industry to protect its interests. ...
Unfortunately we have another National Party government in power at the moment, and as a consequence, another economic dumpster fire taking hold. Inflation’s hurting Kiwis, and instead of providing relief, National is fiddling while wallets burn.Prime Minister Chris Luxon's response is a tired remix of tax cuts for the rich ...
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girlsWho do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boysAlways should be someone you really loveSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Graham Leslie Coxon / Alexander Rowntree David / Alexander James Steven.Last month, I wrote about the Birds and Bees being ...
Australia needs to reevaluate its security priorities and establish a more dynamic regulatory framework for cybersecurity. To advance in this area, it can learn from Britain’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which presents a compelling ...
Deputy PM Winston Peters likes nothing more than to portray himself as the only wise old head while everyone else is losing theirs. Yet this time, his “old master” routine isn’t working. What global trade is experiencing is more than the usual swings and roundabouts of market sentiment. President Donald ...
President Trump’s hopes of ending the war in Ukraine seemed more driven by ego than realistic analysis. Professor Vladimir Brovkin’s latest video above highlights the internal conflicts within the USA, Russia, Europe, and Ukraine, which are currently hindering peace talks and clarity. Brovkin pointed out major contradictions within ...
In the cesspool that is often New Zealand’s online political discourse, few figures wield their influence as destructively as Ani O’Brien. Masquerading as a champion of free speech and women’s rights, O’Brien’s campaigns are a masterclass in bad faith, built on a foundation of lies, selective outrage, and a knack ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As it seeks to gain some momentum for its campaign, the Coalition on Monday will focus on law and order, announcing $355 million for a National Drug Enforcement and Organised Crime Strike Team to fight ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne With less than two weeks to go now until the federal election, the polls continue to favour the government being returned. ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone Israel assassinated a photojournalist in Gaza in an airstrike targeting her family’s home on Wednesday, the day after it was announced that a documentary she appears in would premier in Cannes next month. Her name was ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University Darryl Fonseka/Shutterstocl What do you think of when it comes to extra terrestrial life? Most popular sci-fi books and TV shows suggest humanoid beings could live on other planets. But when astronomers ...
By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatchpresenter In 1979, Sam Neill appeared in an Australian comedy movie about hacks on a Sydney newspaper. The Journalist was billed as “a saucy, sexy, funny look at a man with a nose for scandal and a weakness for women”. That would probably not fly ...
The governments blueprint of how it will invest $12 billion over the next four years into the New Zealand Defence Force mentions climate change twice. ...
Protesters are occupying the site of a proposed fast-tracked coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, near Westport. The 70-strong group, organised by climate activism group 350Aotearoa, says this is just the first of a series of protest actions they are prepared to take against the mining company, Bathurst Resources Ltd., if ...
In an art world context, photography has evolved significantly over the years pushing boundaries in both technique and concept. No longer the poor cousin of painting, but still much more affordable thanks to photographs being sold in numbered editions, an art photograph doesn’t merely capture a moment—artists use the medium ...
Last year, 20,000 observations of Christchurch species were made during the annual City Nature Challenge, a way for anyone to get involved in biodiversity. It’s back again this month. Even in suburbia, even on grey autumn weekends, there is biodiversity. You just need the time to look for it: to ...
Asia Pacific Report Peaceful protesters in Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest city Auckland held an Easter prayer vigil honouring Palestinian political prisoners and the sacrifice of thousands of innocent lives as relentless Israeli bombing of displaced Gazans in tents killed at least 92 people in two days. Organisers of the rally ...
ANALYSIS:By Ben Bohane This week Cambodia marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh to the murderous Khmer Rouge, and Vietnam celebrates the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in April 1975. They are being commemorated very differently; after all, there’s nothing to celebrate in Cambodia. ...
By Gujari Singh in Washington The Trump administration has issued a new executive order opening up vast swathes of protected ocean to commercial exploitation, including areas within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. It allows commercial fishing in areas long considered off-limits due to their ecological significance — despite ...
New Zealand commemoration lead John McLeod said a small team, including members of the NZDF and the NZ Embassy, assisted in the covering up of remains that were exposed. ...
This Bill is a great opportunity to improve our system of government across all levels. Let’s make sure we get it right and give the public a say on a simple and enduring solution. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications, University of Sydney Tech giant Google has just suffered another legal blow in the United States, losing a landmark antitrust case. This follows on from the company’s loss in a similar case last ...
Paddy GowerAmanda Luxon. I mean what can you say. Easter is a good time to publish my latest reckons at Stuff because without exaggeration or making too much of things, Amanda Luxon walks among us like Jesus but probably with better shoes.Jesus healed. How good is that? It’s really good, ...
How can an afternoon be long when it starts at one o’clock and finishes at half past three? Beauden thought about that as he stood at the back of the classroom and looked through the large window to the upper grounds where his colleague Monty Spiers was taking a phys ed ...
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As predicted…
A colossal waste of money, based on rhetoric that has been known to be false since at least 1930. Oh, and it’s already falling apart too.
Monument to the folly of the National Govt
A.
It’s curious you sign off each comment with “A”.
Do you think it add legitimacy to your opinion? To me it’s a form of ego projection.
M.
One should have the decency to put one’s name to what one writes (*)
A.
(*) Even if it isn’t actually one’s name
Well done Stuff for highlighting this
It should be the lead story on TV1 tonight. Something like “National blew two-thirds of a billion dollars on roads where public transport would have sorted-out the problem.”
BG.
100% BG.
If we get back our RNZ/TVNZ from the lingering national trolls running our RNZ/TVNZ Media network; – we should/could hear/see more public affairs stories aired then.
Go Minister of broadcasting Claire Cullan take our RNZ back please!!!!!!
National = road rogues
National = rail destroyers.
Wonder if the recent revelations that Key lied about spying get traction.
It is a concern so many NZers fell for the spell of such a conman and others actually admired his brazen dishonesty.
35 years of neoliberalism poisons people’s minds .
The PM and Ed Sheehan’s twittering will get far more hits.
There needs to be some in-depth enquiry into Paul Quin’s ‘consultancy’ activities given the mention of him in this article: http://digitaldjeli.com/2012/amnesty-international-denounces-use-of-torture-in-rwandan-military-detention-rwandan-pr-reacts/
Particularly when out of his own mouth – (see post https://thestandard.org.nz/phil-quin-our-medias-goto-dogwhistling-aussie/) – “……I’m on an indefinite sabbatical, roaming between Wellington, Vietnam, Europe and the U.S., as I try to write in my own voice for a change.”
“…….as I try to write in my own voice for a change.” What exactly does that mean ? That he will assume a voice not his own ? For personal gain ? In contrast Ghahraman performed a prosecution and defence function in a transparent, formalised process which no one, not even Paul Quin, challenges. A different quantity entirely from that of the paid propagandist…….a status which with his own words Paul Quin seems to acknowledge.
From the Quin thread
A couple of thoughts having read that digitaldjeli article;
It’s important to know what people’s motivations are and take that into account when listening to their ‘message’.
In Phil Quin’s case he has acted directly (and probably still does indirectly) in PR consultancy for the Paul Kagame government and at one point specifically for Rwanda Police.
It’s worth noting the Kagame regime and its police and military are heavily criticised for human rights abuses including the use of torture.
In reality Phil’s work in Rwanda involves actively and in current time defending the regime for contemporary abuses and advising them on how to paint any opposition as ‘genocide deniers’. This what he did to Ghahraman.
Interestingly while his website does say he did consultancy work in Rwanda, it doesn’t say it was for the Rwanda police who seem to be indulging in torture. Absolute clarity of course is something he and other RWNJs demand of Ghahraman.
Oddly though the media tells us he is a saint who ‘worked with genocide victims’.
Dolt45 tries using a visual layout from “The Apprentice” for his “presidential” messaging.
https://www.salon.com/2017/11/29/the-chilling-proof-trump-is-treating-the-presidency-just-like-the-apprentice_partner/
It goes over about how you’d expect.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-empty-chairs_us_5a1e4d97e4b0dc52b02a33db
Sorry folks……”Paul” means “Phil”. Don’t want to be unkind to former National Party list MP Paul Quinn whom from my Barrett’s drinking days in Wellington 40 years ago I recall as a pretty convivial character.
A mere detail, but you have raised a good issue this morning-who is paying Phil Quin? I think we should be told.
I bet he’s been fending off confused media for days. I thought initially it was him – glad it’s not though im not a quin/n fan although I did name my newfy quinn but that was after the dylan song.
I don’t listen to any sort of talkback or bother much with the NZ MSM, so I may be living in a bit of a bubble.
But I have got the distinct feeling from reading social media feedback that the shock jock onslaught on Golriz has fallen flat on it’s face. The “scandal” just refused to develop any legs. The dirty politics machine that feeds the coterie of angry middle aged white male shock jocks & their assorted hangers on like Quinn and Soper never got the wider breakout it was after in it’s attempted character assassination.
I see the old man defeatist of the left Chris Trotter is wringing his hands again at the fecklessness of the Greens political management, but I am wondering a question.
Is the power of the corporate MSM – almost every opinion writer in the Herald, all the “senior correspondents”, Garner, Hoskings, Soper, et al – seriously on the wane in the face of millennial disinterest in the anger and misogyny they are peddling? Are they actually becoming old men waving their fists at clouds as the zeitgeist leaves them behind?
To me, the election outcome indicated that a decisive number of Kiwis no longer get their news from MSM sources. Perhaps the real story of Golriz is the decisive victory of the left’s twitter and FB army over the the attempted smearers?
Trotter hates the Greens-he is old school Labour.
Sanctuary
I think your right, social media is replacing the old style, and it is very effective and also allows interaction by way of commenting directly to the article and with other participants.
The oldies (us) tend to watch or listen to the news, but the level of bias and disregard for true journalism has turned it into a lottery as to is accuracy.
Yes, it’s a paradigm shift in how we consume news. Traditional news services might report ‘The bank was robbed’. We often find out about the robbery via traditional sources but more of us are spending more time with a medium that allows us to function as the social emotionally driven animals we are and articulate how we feel about the robbery.
You’re right Sanctuary……fashioning myself (falsely of course) as young, vibrant, wickedly ‘potent’ and attractively devilish, I don’t give a fuck about Hosking’s Maserati/Ferrari penis-extension, or Garner’s strutty ass, or Soper’s so ‘Gloss’ stubble……they’re old and boring! Of course they get a whiff of my styles and they’ll get very nasty. Mock the fuck out of the boring self-loving fools I reckon.
With the alledged allegations of Sexual Misconduct againt Matt Lauer,
http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/29/media/matt-lauer/index.html
I wonder if the lease of Hunter Valley Station will be revoked under the OIO… for failing the test of Good character…
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/american-tv-host-buys-13m-otago-property
https://www.linz.govt.nz/regulatory/overseas-investment/applying-for-consent-purchase-new-zealand-assets/preparing-your-application-oio/investor-test/good-character
Yes I saw and wondered that too. He wouldn’t pass at this stage so revoke the deal and give the land back to tangata whenua. Sorted ☺
Great Solution!
Don’t know what the outcome was re Rafael and Federico Grozovsky – who bought Onetai Station in 2014?
“The Labour Party revealed last week the brothers had been found criminally responsible for dumping chemicals from their Argentine tannery.
The brothers are linked with Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is at the centre of the Panama Papers revelations about how the rich hide their wealth in overseas trusts.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/302966/oio-apologises-over-taranaki-farm-sale
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/302988/labour-to-reveal-more-foreign-buyer-%27mistakes%27
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/oio-failed-show-ministers-all-good-character-info-argentinian-brothers-b-188927
Another day, another prominent Trump morality critic turning out to be just as bad. Gawsh.
OMG Garrison Keillor goes down on workplace misdemeanours as well.
No!!! Really?
Leading thinker Rush Limbaugh has all the answers…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_lfFwrw5E
https://www.politico.com/story/2012/03/boehner-limbaugh-slut-remark-inappropriate-073546
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/garrison-keillor-fired_us_5a1ee935e4b017a311ebcad2?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Here you go.
Hardly a misdemeanour and all I read was his side plus him saying women tried to touch him up all the time when getting selfies so, you know, what’s the problem with touching a woman’s bare back eh.
Time you trusted someone other than a voice on a radio you know ad.
Use the term you like.
It’s there in the HuffPost link supplied.
I re-read it and couldn’t find that word.
GROPERS
No. 13: WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/10/11/joy-behar-calls-bill-clinton-accusers-tramps-on-view.html
“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris; No. 9 Harold Bloom; No. 10 Sir Jimmy Savile; No. 11 Dr Morgan Fahey; No. 12 Prince Harry, AKA “The Big H”
Interesting. Independent, trust run NZ public TV, free online.
Bryan Bruce is CEO – in the video
If Labour has any sense at all, it will support and fund this.
Why do I always feel the need to go and have a shower after listening to a Guyon Espiner interview on Morning Report ? Is it because of his ill concealed political bias towards the Right ? Is it the, I don’t know, slimy way he tries to undermine the thought train of the interviewee? His constant interrupting ? There is so much I just feel is creepy.
His interview with David Parker this am. was a classic example of his style. Or lack of it !
Agree, and I dislike his weasel-way of subtly inserting his insinuations into his victims’ mouth. He deserves to be limited to interviewing Winston.
Guyon always strikes me as the deputy head prefect of Scots College about 40 years ago…..the one who puzzled everybody on account of his frequent disappearances into the admin block (read headmaster’s office) during periods. Suspected but no one knew for sure that he was in there tittle-tattling on everyone. With those ever so earnest slappy little wettish ‘public’ schoolboy lips. Nothing against him mind ‘cept he’s basically a well fed, well housed, well warmed Tory. Who just cannot keep his fucking mouth shut as subjects attempt to answer questions he’s put to them. Very naughty !
I think sky TV just wants to domanate our sports broad casting and squeeze more money out of us so a big no to there actions to ban some Internet sites.
I take offence to the statement of of William Gallagher. If I examine what happened in the 18th century with NZ Maori and the settlers the way I see it is that Maori did not have any concept of land being sold traded we were part of mother earth. Maori had no notion of assets and that assets appreciated in price so Maori had no concept of the value of land or assets. So does one think that all Maori land was traded in a fair and just way we’ll no because that would be like I played a game of scrabble against my 10 year old granddaughter. You no that at the end of the game I will own all the assets and my granddaughter will have non because she doesn’t no the value of assets and how money works. So you no that my hiperthetal game with my granddaughter would be un fair and this is a fact being ignored by the other cultures of NZ. The neo liberals drilibritly leave a lot of fact out of OUR treaty settlement process like the 1¢ in the dollar reparation Maori are getting. So please don’t let national play the racial card to divide and conquer us left voters . I have had someone say your people sold there land for blankets and wanted more money later on. They in reality thought that they were leasing Maori land out not selling it out right. Well that’s my opinion Kai kaha
Why are the MSN not picking up the story on shonky key and the NSA Speargun project this was a massive attempt by key to control everything in NZ WTF Come on people we need this story out there in the public view so this can never be imposed on us I got a bad feeling when I first seen shonky key. Ana tou kai
More and more is coming out about Golriz
Giving a speech (and Golriz was there) James Shaw very clearly said that she was a prosecutor –
“Golriz is now a human rights lawyer who worked as a prosecutor at the United Nations tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.”
Pretty clear there. Was he mistaken? Was he trying to mislead us? Was he misled?
http://www.nziia.org.nz/Portals/285/documents/lists/259/Speech%20-%20NZIIA%20(James%20Shaw)%20-%2030%20May%2017%20(Final).pdf
top of page 2
I think there are enough confusing stories about this that it is not unreasonable to think that some people have tried to rewrite history (or at least have deliberately confused the situation at certain times).
(Yes – I got this link from Kiwi blog – but that does not change the words or the misleading nature of Shaws speech.
You don’t need to say Kiwiblog is where you got the link.
It’s well known that’s where you get all your opinions from!
“It’s well known that’s where you get all your opinions from!”
you state this as fact – yet it is incorrect.
But try commenting on the substance of the point – and not trying to make it a personal attack.
Or do you have no defence for James Shaws comments
It’s true James you are just a spinner with real true rginal thinking – oh deary the right are very scared and desperate now – soon they’ll have you sniffing through rubbish bins for dirt James lol that’s opposition for ya.
The Greens could run a tighter ship for sure. It was a wrong statement but unintentional as far as I’m concerned.
Not to mention irrelevant.
Actually it was not an incorrect statement. She has worked as a prosecutor for the UN’s International Criminal Tribunals around the world – as well as defence counsel.
http://opiniojuris.org/2017/11/28/a-shameless-attack-on-golriz-ghahraman/
I see Quin has now backtracked and apologised. He might had thought a little more carefully before he bad mouthed this incredible young woman
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99390271/phil-quin-apologises-for-calling-green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-a-genocide-denier
Shaw said she was a prosecutor in the Rwanda trials. I think that’s the mistake, she was on the defence team.
Is he going to tell us all about the panama papers/ barclay/afgfanistan/who leaked Winstons private details?
Guess not so we will at least await for a court to find out eh?
ffs James, mate…can you give it a rest?
You’ve done enough for a mallowpuff, or whatever it is you’re paid in.
How about you try to debate the point – and niot making it a personal attack.
Or are you happy with James Shaw telling lies (for whatever reason).
And it is a lie – because what he said is untrue.
James..its all over red rover…see 15.1
james –you have not got your BA in trolling yet!!
No – but I take it from your comments in this blog calling women ‘Blond Bimbos’ that you have your Masters in misogynistic studies.
https://thestandard.org.nz/invisibill/#comment-1418846
now – can we drop the useless comments and start debating the points.
James! James has not been telling lies
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99390271/phil-quin-apologises-for-calling-green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-a-genocide-denier
She has worked both as a prosecutor and on occasion as defence counsel. Both are important – as you will find in your law studies if Justice is to be served. And: I shall let her explain it to you:
Well he could have done a ponyboy and misheard, misspoke, but did not lie….
She worked in a court that prosecutes people for human rights abuses did she not?
But thats not what he said.
Here – let me break it down to less words for you:
“Golriz is now a human rights lawyer who worked as a prosecutor”
“Golriz worked for United Nations Tribunals as part of both defence (Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia) and prosecution (Cambodia) teams.”
Meaning James, that she has been on prosecution and defense teams, right?
Where are you quoting that from – is it in the same speech that we are talking about?
No point letting truth get in the way of your hit job, ah james.
adam – I can only think you are having trouble reading.
I quoted directly from James Shaw speech.
He has since apologised for being wrong in what he said – so name one “non-truth” that I have said in this.
So the only one playing with the truth is you – either that or you are unable to work it out for yourself
No james, as you always do, you twist things to fit your personal agenda.
Which in this case, is to do a hit job on a MP.
So the truth, like many of your brethren on the right is political, hence why you can not see the wood – for the trees.
I don’t know why you bother James. From what I can see you’ve stated only facts and quotes from the people involved. You’re wasting your time trying to defend yourself against those who either have a case of cognitive dissonance or are simply unable to admit they are wrong.
It’s from her bio on the Green Party web page.
https://www.greens.org.nz/candidates/golriz-ghahraman-mp
The point, James, is that Shaw (by the words you attribute to him) was absolutely correct in what he said. She worked in prosecution teams.
Anyway. Apart from the bullshit being peddled by some (eg – yourself James), I’m left wondering if some of the angst coming from others is rooted in some bullshit notionof morality that would have us believe the UN always prosecutes for the good, and therefore to be good, someone must be on the side of the prosecution.
“The point, James, is that Shaw (by the words you attribute to him) was absolutely correct in what he said. She worked in prosecution teams.”
He said:
““Golriz is now a human rights lawyer who worked as a prosecutor at the United Nations tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.”
You get that the whole kerfuffle is that she worked on the DEFENCE TEAM right?
You get the kerfuffle that human rights lawyers ensure the human rights of everyone, right?
You get the point that even though the system might be adversarial, the same organisation ensured everyone got fair representation, because that’s how human rights work, right?
You said he’d said
“Golriz is now a human rights lawyer who worked as a prosecutor”
I answered to that.
I don’t understand the kerfuffle. The UN is an institution that exercises power. And just like any other institutional power, it’s not intrinsically benevolent or any such like.
Which is why I wrote the second part to my previous comment (maybe you missed it).
Boiling it all down a bunch of stinking misogynistic Tories don’t like a woman like Golriz because she has what all of them and theirs, and that fumes-spewing D10 Caterpillar Bennett, don’t have……brains, elan, and guts.
If Shaw was “absolutely correct” as you’ve stated, then why has he apologized for his mistake?
Although in saying that, having to apologize even though you are absolutely correct is not necessarily uncommon these days..
A little mind, looking for jollies on a blog site..
Time for some self reflection Jimbo…long overdue…
And yet – here is James Shaw all over the news websites having to explain how he got it wrong over Golriz in his speech.
and the insults, and not adding anything to the conversation really dosnt make you look the smartest. Esp when I was right !
Nope you were/are just a prat in carrying on a hit job. At least everyone here now knows you don’t support human rights or a fair trial.
Yep that’s about right he appears to be a support hit for the past Government alraight so belongs on Kiwiblog not here.
I am now left wing there I have said it, can he?
I side with ‘You Fool; as he/she said only that Shaw got it wrong, not that he lied.
I heard this on RNZ news myself too.
(I am not a green party member I just believe in honesty.
I voted every election Labour/NZF.
Whilst I know I am just feeding a troll who already knows this, I have decided to actually engage you in this.
Having read the link finally (your link doesn’t work, and I wouldn’t trust anything from Kiwiblog unless i can find it via google), it does appear to be an error by James Shaw. I don’t think he deliberately lied, but merely got it wrong (or at least his speech write got it wrong and no one picked it up). The focus of the speech was not on the new candidates, but on the Green’s commitment to change the government for the betterment of everyone. The bits about Golriz Ghahraman seems a bit of a last minute(ish) inclusion, due to releasing the party list that morning.
I do think that most of this (the greater Ghahraman mud-slinging) has been blown up because of a lack of understanding on what the court systems are actually like, as well as a desire to be concise by PR people (hence the wording on the website). It would appear that the speech writer for this speech also misunderstood the words used, and that Ghahraman was to polite to correct her leader on a minor point in a public forum.
Sorry re link – for some reason it dropped the .pdf off at the end.
“it does appear to be an error by James Shaw. I don’t think he deliberately lied, but merely got it wrong (or at least his speech write got it wrong and no one picked it up).”
This may well be true – but it seems unusual that several papers have gotten it wrong, and each time she ends up prosecuting. And then she never reads the articles (or her greens party bio) and corrects the mistake.
It appears to me that the only time she was said to be a prosecutor on the trials was this speech by Shaw. Any other time was just saying he was a part of the trial, and any time she was asked she said she was part of the defense. The only issue is people like you with a bone to pick not understanding what the words actually mean and choosing a different interpretation of the slightly ambiguous original statement on the greens website (which was a true account of what happened, just keeping things concise). Also the mudslinging by someone with skin in the game who seems to be someone who had conflicts of interest (and opinion)
I am not sure what cover up or conspiracy you think is happening.
Also re link… even putting the .pdf on didn’t open the file.
Thats the point – that was not the only time.
Here is another:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/17/the-refugee-mp-golriz-ghahraman-on-why-she-had-to-enter-new-zealand-politics
edit – that link works 😉
It appears the guardian got it wrong in the original article and have now amended once someone noticed. I still don’t see a conspiracy, other than lazy people making assumptions about someone else without clarifying.
I also see the guardian typo’d “prosector”.
Somehow the Greens will get blamed for that, too…
…it seems unusual that several papers have gotten it wrong, and each time she ends up prosecuting.
Doesn’t seem unusual to me. Lazy buggers jump to conclusions and don’t check them, in this case the assumption that a human rights lawyer working on war crimes cases would be prosecuting. DPF based this whole dirty-politics hit on that assumption, so it’s hardly surprising there are journos who make the same assumption. Fact is, we know she did mention to interviewers that she was involved in defence as well as prosecution – if lazy bastards reported it otherwise, that’s their mistake, not hers.
“Fact is, we know she did mention to ONE interviewer”.
I do not think it has been established that she has mentioned it to more than one.
Happy to be corrected if you have any evidence
lol
Happy to be corrected if you have any evidence of anything other than people running their own abridged (and slightly wrong) versions of her CV.
Yeah – she makes it so clear – and everyone else gets it wrong. Thats a TUI billboard right there.
Come on, be fair – you guys have to work really hard to feel misled over this.
to do so you have to ignore everything she’s said, and her CV, and assume that she personally vetted the wording used by every reporter, editor, and speechmaker who felt compelled to say/write a couple of sentences about her background.
‘Let it go michael’ ‘james’ – (credit to Vogels bread advert’)
“Fact is, we know she did mention to ONE interviewer”.
Well, if you’re counting, we know she mentioned it to two: Kirsty Johnston and whoever did the Vice interview.
But so what? Do you have some basis to suspect she might have been happy to talk about her defence role to one or two interviewers, but to others she decided to give the misleading impression she’d only worked as a prosecutor? Because that sounds laughable to me.
“Fact is, we know she did mention to ONE interviewer”.
I do not think it has been established that she has mentioned it to more than one.
Happy to be corrected if you have any evidence
Here you go,
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/11/five-times-golriz-ghahraman-was-open-about-her-defence-work.html
Now, upthread you accused James Shaw of telling a lie because of a mistake he made in a speech. In your mind mistakenly saying something untrue = telling a lie. You just made a mistake in what you said about Golriz so I think it appropriate from now on we call you a liar.
Today I’m going to call you a fucking liar, because you’ve obviously not bothered to follow the story even in the MSM but are quite happy to spread lies about Ghahraman from a place of being ill informed. That looks like out and out prejudice to me. That you are doing so in a clear dirty politics context makes you a dirty politics apologist (at the least).
If none of that is true, if you’re not a fucking liar, bigot and dirty politics apologist, don’t @ me here, demonstrate it in your behaviour over the next week and month and year. Because the shit that is going on right now in NZ is dangerous for democracy and the well being of this country and you are going to have to pick a side. I’m not talking left right here, I’m talking right and wrong in terms of ethics.
Weka,
Wrote a long reply – decided to delete. But things are obv getting heated in here.
I will apologise for anything that I said on this matter that may have been incorrect, and will not comment on this matter further.
Peace out !
James – never have I known someone to spend so much time and effort claiming they were right when the leader of a political party later openly admitted it was so, but in such a non-issue of irrelevance.
You have succeeded, I think, in helping NZ to understand that the empty diatribes directed at Golriz are nothing more than that.
Thanks for your help, James. Legal experts who universally exonerate Golriz (find one who condemns her) would probably also like to thank you.
You seem to be over-investing in this Golriz bizo James. what’s up ? Maybe you should give it a break and try Bitcoin. Sir john Key’s running seminars you know….
Apparently on John Key – there are indeed a few people dumb enough to fall for that.
On Golriz – Im simply stepping out of the conversation on that one.
Wise decision. It looks like you guys have lost that one as well as the GE.
That whole “Quin back-tracking and apologising” thing must have hurt, James! You’d backed him to the hilt, invested in his claims and suddenly, gosh, sorry everyone, I was wrong; you must have felt a right git!
No – he backtracked on calling her a genocide denyer (something that I did not mention at all in my post – I doubt anyone could be involved in any side of this and be one).
But – the rest continue to raise legitimate questions about people being misled.
No. Not “legitimate questions”, James. Low-brow mud-slinging is all and you lapped it up like spit milk, Tory kitten that you are.
Some serious backtracking by Quin here. When you start deleting tweets, it’s all over.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/11/guy-who-called-golriz-ghahraman-a-genocide-denier-denies-calling-her-a-genocide-denier.html
Well, bugger me…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99390271/phil-quin-apologises-for-calling-green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-a-genocide-denier
https://m5.paperblog.com/i/105/1052423/eating-crow-L-aHdZc3.jpeg
Good that it’s across media but they still won’t say what exactly Phil Quin did in Rwanda.
As described above and in the other thread he worked directly for the undemocratic Kagame regime and the Rwandan Police force. Apart from the imprisonment of opposition figures, there are serious questions about brutality and the use of torture by that government and its machinery in order to hold onto power.
Phil Quin appears to have facilitated that and advised them on how to shut down dissent.
I’d like to see the media get to the bottom of his story too instead of calling him a former Labour staffer and portraying him as some sort of missionary figure.
Seems Phil Quin is an idiot.
https://dovjacobs.com/2017/11/28/a-ridiculous-attack-on-peter-robinson/
https://twitter.com/mdnharris/status/935649043358904320
For those of us concerned about Science in New Zealand…this from Natrad this morning is well worth a listen…http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018623630/loss-of-top-scientists-will-damage-uni-research
The part of the program where the Vice Chancellor has her turn is a classic tirade of un – punctuated corporatespeak.
I seriously believe it was a robot speaking as barely was there any pause for breath.
Impressive, and disturbing that again Kiwi science (and surprisingly, nursing) will take yet another hit.
Ryan did eventually get the VC to stop speaking and tried to get a couple of salient questions to her …but sadly….only succeeded in pushing ‘play’ again.
It was bloody painful to listen to the woman!
I almost felt embarassed for her.
But when all said and done, her and her ilk are the natural consequence of commoditising education. The business of business, everything costed and fuck all valued.
James Shaw has had to come out and apologise about Ghahraman:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11950392
This is her last line of defence.
If the leader coming out with a mea culpa doesn’t shift the media narrative, I can’t see her surviving.
Pretty starkly obvious that the Beehive media team are intent on solely protecting their government, otherwise they would have put a fresh story out there to compete with the Gharaman one.
Robertson will change the narrative with the 6 monthly budgetary review set peice tomorrow, but a week is a long, long time to swing in the cold media air.
No Ad. Shaw has apologised about what he said about Ghahraman.
I admit to being somewhat aghast at the pathetic handling of all this. It does. not. bode well. That said, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why she won’t “survive” (as you put it).
Fuckers have to get their shit together though.
This is Shaw putting his political body on the line to stop the story.
Her boss.
Replay this under Clark and shed be gone already.
They’re a small set of mps with a small agenda to make happen. Can’t afford another big hit.
Shaw is gutsy to do it, but it better work.
Looks to me like normal GP response. Seeing a mistake and acknowledging it. It’s what adults do. Hardly putting one’s body on the line to say yep there’s a mistake in one line of a speech I gave 6 months ago, my bad.
Well Ad, if your take is correct, and given this wee doozy in the piece you linked, it ain’t working…
The rest of that para goes on to mention that Simon Bikindi (the guy beside her in the photo doing the rounds) was convicted of “incitement to genocide”.
Doesn’t mention that the prosecution was seeking conviction on the weightier charges of genocide, or that they tried to use his fucking song lyrics as evidence!
cut and paste of verdict according to wiki
My goodness Ad……you’re sounding cynical and sly to match Steven Joyce……”I can’t see her surviving”. Get a grip man.
She just needs to hang in there and I really hope she does. She has done nothing wrong.
This is just a Dirty Politics hatchet job and must be resisted. This shit has got to stop!
Kia kaha Golriz!
Now here’s a turn up for the books …
Those journalists involved in Winston Peters complaint re his alleged leaked personal superannuation overpayment details, are now quite agitated. RW journalists have approached their union for assistance, claiming Peters is harassing them, interfering with the right of freedom of speech!
WTF!!!!!
In the past nine years, journalists of the right wing persuasion, have never acted as the proxy of the people, giving Key and Natz a smooth run all the way through! In fact they still are playing Natz’s game of dirty politics. Golriz being a very recent prime example of their biased sewer tactics!
Draining of that cesspit of squalor, is proving to be not such an easy task!
Anyway as old Jonesy would have said “they don’t like it up ’em!” Too bloody right they don’t. I hope Winston wins his case.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99380954/winston-peters-called-on-to-abandon-harassment-of-journalists
“Anyway as old Jonesy would have said “they don’t like it up ’em!” Too bloody right they don’t. I hope Winston wins his case.”
Fair enough – everyone is entitled to their views . But can you please state one thing in Winstons case against the journalists that they should be sued for?
Should Journo’s be able to be sued for publishing something that is true?
It was also confidential.
Or do you think everyone’s private information should be available to be published?
If it is in the public interest then – why not.
There were plenty on here that were happy when other journalist published confidential information in the public interest.
And who decides what’s in the public interest? The National party ministers doing the hit-job?
The person who publishes it.
Can you please state one thing in Winstons case against the journalists that they should be sued for?
I think that will come down to Winston’s lawyers being able to prove that a man that was asking the nation to vote for him had his prospects hobbled by a published manipulation of the truth.
and what was this ” manipulation of the truth”?
Nobody as far as I have read has said any of what was published was untrue.
I guess it’s going cost Winston 1000’s to have that question explored James. Days of chewing it over in court. A bet that wiley old fox is unlikely to be making unless the trainer has had a word in his ear. My 2 bob are on Winston’s horse.
And my bet is that this case of Winnies will be paid for by the taxpayer.
I wonder if the agreement for the Crown to pay for all the costs of Winnies’ Court Cases was one of the items in the 38 pages that JA is insisting on hiding from the New Zealand public?
Along with the instructions that no-one from the Green Party is to be allowed into any position of power in the Government.
He’s not sueing journalists. He’s asking for the communication, if any, between them and senior government figures.
In this case it’s the apparent collusion between the government of the day and the media to do an expose on a political rival. You say the media decides the public interest but when the leak came from government offices it’s all a bit murky.
“He’s not sueing journalists. He’s asking for the communication, if any, between them and senior government figures.”
Really – what do you call it when he seeks monetary damages form journalist?
You are either a liar – or sadly uninformed.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99333558/deputy-prime-minister-winston-peters-seeks-monetary-damages-from-journalists
Uninformed about a two day old development? Guilty!
As the article says this was not in the original claim. The original claim asked for information on communications between ministers, senior public servants, and the media in oder to get to the bottom of what Peters considers an illegal leak.
Looks like the judge wants Peters to state his further intentions now if a case for civil action can be made against some or all of these parties. For what reason I don’t know – I’m not a lawyer. But if a case can be made that these two members of the media colluded with government ministers or staff on the release of Peters’ confidential information and that the action is unlawful then yes, sue them for damages.
Now, it looks like you’ve gotten yourself into trouble for calling people liars all day. Perhaps you just need to wind your neck in.
Perhaps then you should not make a statement of fact without looking into it. Else you look stupid.
At least you’ve walked back from ‘liar’. Even the slow learners get it eventually.
James (19.1) … Winston Peters’ superannuation details are private and confidential. The journalists concerned breached confidentiality, which is or should be sacrosanct.
True or not, the disclosure of Winston’s overpayment was obviously done with malice, to hit NZF at the last election.
I have not had time to keep up with everything on TS in the last few days, so sorry if this is repeating information elsewhere here, but here are a few statements on the criticism of Golriz Ghahraman from various NZ legal organisations
NZ Law Society – http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1711/S00326/implied-criticism-of-defence-lawyers-unacceptable.htm
NZ Criminal Bar Association – http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1711/S00347/nz-criminal-bar-association-defends-golriz-ghahraman.htm
New Zealand Bar Association – https://www.nzbar.org.nz/news/nzba-responds-criticism-lawyers-defending-war-criminals
h/t Felix Geiringer https://twitter.com/BarristerNZ
Also here is Gordon Campbell’s (excellent as always) take on the situation (and other topical matters)
http://werewolf.co.nz/2017/11/gordon-campbell-on-journalism-peters-and-ghahraman/
Liked this bit
No doubt, the Greens can be irritatingly sanctimonious at times. But so can Steven Joyce. And Ghahraman’s frankness about her past career has made for an interesting contrast with another politician – former PM Bill English – whose own party also packaged him in glowing personal terms. Throughout 2017, we all heard a great deal about Honest Bill, the no frills, straight shooter from Dipton etc even while English peddled patent untruths about the Barclay affair, and Labour’s tax plans. Ultimately, if the likes of David Farrar and Jordan Williams want to campaign for political truth in packaging, maybe they should start closer to home. Because in that regard, Golriz Ghahraman seems to be the least of our problems.
“Phil Quin apologises for calling Green MP Golriz Ghahraman a ‘genocide denier’
Sort of. He denies it at first but his tweets exist still. Pity the other hunters cannot or will not recant.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99390271/phil-quin-apologises-for-calling-green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-a-genocide-denier
Theresa May condemns addled dotard for promoting far right hate, addled dotard replies to the wrong Theresa May.
lol!
🙄 gezz that man is an idiot, bigot, xenophobe and sexual predator and he just gets worse.
HTF anyone could have voted for him – Oh I know! He’s the most popular President ever – with the alt right.
Yes he’s a dick, but he has actually got a point regarding the radical Islamic terrorism in the UK.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11950439
A fuel tax for Auckland.
This wont hurt struggling families in the slightest.
This week in the house,the opposition have been baiting the speaker about his ruling impartiality.Listening from day one, of our coalition government,the speaker has introduce simple rules,that fairly access those on both sides a supplementary question add on,if one or other side stepped out of line.Today being Thursday,home time for the polo!s,was simple SIMON,looking for a quick exit from the house,as he belligerent challenged the speaker,who has been serious fair,and not ejected anyone yet.
Well it didn’t take very long to reach this state did it?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/99402320/business-sector-most-downbeat-since-early-2009-anz-survey
Business confidence is at its lowest level since early 2009. And we’ve only had this Government for about 6 weeks.
Why can’t they get things under control. They had 9 years to come up with some plans and projects and they wasted it all.
Your assuming that surveys of business confidence are a meaningful measure of something, and that that ‘something’ is important.
These are contentious assumptions.
Also, say I went to a group of people and asked “are you happy that the party you didn’t vote for is in government?” Would I then make great play of the fact that they said “no” – as though that told me something new?
Society is not an appendage of business – get used to it.
While I know you just love working yourself up into a frenzy, It would be unfair to let you remain ignorant.
Interestingly the town talk here is that things are quiet…
Can’t say I have noticed it – the usual summer rush is upon us now with the supermarket queues increasing in length, and parking spaces becoming tighter by the day. But you know – consumerism has to be alive and well.
I guess the hype for Black Friday which really is a north american thing didn’t result in a rush to the special bins – oh dear! Long faces. Let’s blame it on the Govt.
I suspect that nine years of the “right wing bonfire” has produced a predictable result. Treasury’s been saying for a while that the economy’s sustained by immigration, as opposed to innovation.
The economy needs a solid dose of Keynes.
The country needs an ethical correction.
Thug bro’s
Duck,put away the book you,have cherished this seat you hold,get your shit together and get on with it.Or is the other side correct challenging your competence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11950585
This is going to be comical.
On one hand
“Peters plans to ignore the advice of top officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and will introduce the royalty which was promised in the Labour-New Zealand First coalition agreement.”
On the other
“But Parker backed Vitalis. He told reporters export taxes were prohibited by all of New Zealand’s trade agreements “so we have got to find a remedy that is consistent with those obligations.”
and what was promised:
“Labour and New Zealand First’s coalition agreement specifically includes a provision to “introduce a royalty on exports of bottled water.”
So lets do this and see what happens….
Just raise the permit for bottlers which use artesian or river sources.
Just put a tax on taking water for bottling and don’t call it an export tax..problem solved
Despite the number of well-written and accurate responses, the howls of outrage regarding Golriz Ghahraman continue. All howls and no ears.
A pack of pseudo- alphas running round in circles claiming to be another one who managed to draw blood.
When you have someone who considers themselves not only a self-made man, but a well-made man, the mere existence of people who go through life concerned about such abstract issues as human rights, equality or environment make them extremely uncomfortable.
The self-image of such people requires a narrow mirror, (and the necessary absence of any comparative value systems.)
Otherwise:
– next to a compassionate person they appear vindictive,
– next to a truthful person they look deceitful,
– next to a honorable person, they look soulless,
– next to a thoughtful person, they look witless,
– next to a kind person, they look venal,
– next to a whole person, they look piecemeal.
It is so much simpler to believe that they are the top of the heap, even if it is a vindictive, deceitful, soulless, witless, venal, piecemeal heap. (The thought that not everyone cares to climb that particular pile is particularly galling, and is dismissed as soon as it occurs.)
The delight to discover – or create – a perceived link in the chainmail of a shining knight!
The passionate dismantling of words, punctuation marks and edited articles shows a discernment for clarity and fullness not often exhibited by those who are currently engaging in such a dazzling display of wordplay gymnastics.
I’ve been reading the comments by some of our own Standard rightwingers, and I find it hard to give them any credit at all, as they wilfully disengage when responses show their logic failures, and their stated standard of accuracy and reality is so far removed from their usual lassez-faire approach to truth and honesty that it is pitiful.
And despite it all, the truth is one that Ghahraman does not have to apologise for.
We are once again witnessing an example of deliberately, and falsely representing facts in order to diminish someone – in order to ignore their voice.
Also given published papers that confirm the falseness of our last PM, a suspiciously timed case of DP, or at very least a prime example of bullying. By grown adults who should know better.
I do feel a kind of embarrassment for them, which does not make a difference in the scheme of things but does make me wonder: Do they have such low standards for themselves that these actions are supposedly elevating them?
…and why the hell are we still giving them an audience?
I should have put this here
“Phil Quin apologises for calling Green MP Golriz Ghahraman a ‘genocide denier’
Sort of. He denies it at first but his tweets exist still. Pity the other hunters cannot or will not recant.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99390271/phil-quin-apologises-for-calling-green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-a-genocide-denier
Debate,why the notes.
The evangelical nut jobs gotta have Jews to fulfill their end times body count so they can get themselves raptured AF.
https://twitter.com/lisang/status/935939813915676673
Wains in the parliament house,its time to say,we are changing our humanity care,do you wish your child to be a media ridicule of your political care.
We shall be thankful for the Parlamentry break.A break bleating,do i need another three years.Who shall lead our hope.Bingo number, crusher,number basher,number blond.Desporation,is in the wind.
Is James really Mike Hosking in drag ? I understand James is his third given name.
Nope.
Not very convincing James, try a bit harder.
Winston is entitled to search for the truth about who leaked his private information, it is our rights to seek justice and if anyone has an issue with this then we have a real problem as when justice is not done the society will break down as we all bekieve in justice being served.
Date for court is 7th December so come on you two Journalists!! let us see them if you have nothing to hide whats the issue? do you want to impeade justice being sought?
On those grounds I assume you did not approve of the book Hagar did with the private correspondence of Whaleoil that was stolen.
Or are you a hypocrite. Yeah thought so.
James, James, James…….. the material Hagar included in his book has been proven to be of benefit to the pubic interest/good. If you don’t recall or didn’t read the book it clearly outs the whole machine behind Dirty Politics, names names and uses the “stolen” emails as proof as to the characters hard at work.
Yes, we all acknowledge there was a hack, and the hacker realising the material he obtained outlined nasty behavior by shitty people passed that material on in what I would call a whistle blower action.
The hacking of the oily one was an action that was illegal.
The whistle blowing and publishing of the material was not………… else Hagar would have been dragged through the courts or sued by people named in the book ( funny thing that not a single person named in the book has brought any proceedings against Hagar…………… wonder why that is???)
This was found to be in the public interest/good.
The invasion of privacy of a citizen (who was also a politician) revealed no information that was in the public interest/good, the initial mistake which lead to the overpayment was a MSD error (some 50,000 others also were overpaid in the same period) and clearly was a leak with the aim to discredit Winston and have a negative impact on NZF come polling day.
So Clean Green and others are not being hypocritical about this issue and your whole argument is tosh same as the BS you peddled with Golriz.
Oh and how bout that John Key fella being found out lying to NZ about Speargun?? Maybe he’ll keep his word and resign.
Who makes you the arbitrator of what is or is not in the public interest?
” initial mistake which lead to the overpayment was a MSD error”
Do you have a citation for this statement of ‘fact’? Because I have not see this at all?
As you cannot seem to be able to use a web search engine:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/98422219/thousands-of-overpaid-pensions-superannuation-no-more-an-issue-than-tax-refunds
Trouble for James is if he doesn’t do the research he looks a bit stupid.
You really are a crap troll.
We had a Prime Minister who for years lied about many things large and small. More of those lies come to be known as time marches on.
And on a site like this I find someone accusing of James Shaw of lying and acting as if it is one the crime of the century or at least he is unfit for the job he is in.
I personally don’t think he did lie, but say he did. What would be the real import of what he did? Is democracy at risk? Did a Government get to be in power because of it?
One thing the past few years has taught us is that lying is okay. It’s what you do. Well it’s what people like John Key and Bill English were accustomed to doing and accomplished at.
The outrage by the champions of Key, English, McCully, Collins and Co. at the thought of politicians other than National lying at once makes me want to laugh, to spew and also say, “Fuck off.”
Ever hear the saying “don’t vote, it just encourages them”? What about “they’re all as bad as each other”? Or maybe “they’re all liars, just out for the money”?
All of those lines that are used to discourage people from voting, to get them to opt-out of following what’s being done to them and in their name.
That’s what lets 47% tories win government.
There’s only one side that has habitual and orchestrated liar, and they want everyone to think all the parties are as bad as they are. Because then they win.
Run, Jamesy, run!
Robert my old stalker. Hope you are well.
Thanks for the video escort to Auckland but you have to tell the people in front of me to drive a bit faster or at least 90klm lol. We are visiting my daughter and mokos while Iv got a couple of days off. Could see they were trying to drum up some drama they must behave like this to make up for there other inadequacy. lol Kia kaha
Corporate news and the royal diversion.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/11/28/bbc-dedicated-50-coverage-harrys-engagement-heres-forgot-cover/
Who says,question,dare we chance them