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
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QEAtcz3o8
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