Adam Bennett muscles in on Pete George’s territory and finds it abandoned. The larder is full. The fire is going. Adam has a good feed and puts his feet up.
Why are opposition Parties not pursuing the MSM media to get their messages and policies out there, as administrators were asking them to do?
Blogs were spending most of the time concentrating on Slatergate for two weeks every day, and some strongly suggested we now concentrate on discussing opposition parties policies so why are we still not hearing about Opposition Parties policies to discuss our views on?
Is this because the MSM are completely failing to give adequate time to opposition parties?
This while every news broadcast virtually all we hear is Key whining about other parties policies, and not much else.
We believe the MSM must begin time slot political time breaks to give all opposition parties informational opportunities to get their messages of policies directed at the electorate out so the people can hear what they are.
Take this Saturday morning 30/8/14 for example,
I turn first to RNZ, and nothing on Policics, then go to TVNZ nothing there, except for The Nation scheduled on TV3 a private channel so nothing on politics at all on our so called public broadcaster?
Is this the election we are having when we are not having an election, or Nat’s way of shutting interest down among voters?
Apologies if this has been commented on before but I was interested to hear at the formal launch of the National Party’s campaign in Manukau, an almost manic John Key, shout :
‘Breaking news, Ritchie McCaw’s texted and says ‘Yes you can”.’
In light of the Rugby News cover a while back, is this an indication that McCaw is formally backing the National Party or has TeamKey just co-opted him and the AB brand?
The lag in posts appearing is a bit annoying. I’d probably have spotted my error in my Open Mike post last night (which was caused by being distracted by my partner loudly expressing astonishment at Stuart SMITH’s ineptitude at the Hurunui electorate debate) and corrected it but the lag meant I didn’t get the chance. So I inadvertently slandered poor Stuart Nash – whose name is unfortunately fixed in my memory by virtue of Simon Lusk having described him as an ‘exceptionally gifted politician’.
His 10 points
People really do care about other people
We don’t talk enough about the really important things
There are dark shapes swirling around under the water
People who should know better seem to ignore the science with hardly a backward glance.
There is more cause for hope than ever before.
The bad guys fight dirty
We are further apart now than ever before
We’re hungry for leadership
Television can be meaningful
Things can be better
It is very suspicious that there is nothing on the state channels. The tactics that the nats are employing are straight from the Republican play book. Turn off as many voters as possible. The right can not win on policies or the popular vote. They know that and through the stacking of the public service their tactics are proving to be very effective. John really shows his American side with so many of his ideas straight out of the Republican party.i was shocked to see the blantent use of this after returning from living in the states for many years. Not only are they lacking in any original ideas they are taking the worst of the American concepts. Hurry up and return to your Republican buddies john.
Not only are they lacking in any original ideas they are taking the worst of the American concepts.
The US has done a hell of a lot of research over the years on why people react the way that they do to external stimuli. Those lessons are then used by the US Republican’s to produce manipulative advertising and word grouping, the effects noted and refined. That knowledge is then exported to other conservative parties around the world. There is, effectively, only one conservative party in the world and it’s dominated by the US.
Not surprisingly I’m not convinced. What “we” are asked to believe is that “The Republicans” or whoever the bad guys are, have the inside scoop on human motivations, a direct line to the sub-conscious; that is, there is really only one type of us and we are easily controlled. Now I’m not saying there aren’t people who are easily led or who fit the stereotype, but why then do people like you, me and the rest of the resistors exist untouched, despite our diverse backgrounds and conditioning? Do you suggest we all just give up? Why aren’t I immediately a possum in Key’s headlights? Why did I not see a couple of guys paddling a National boat and think, wow, that is soooo me yet strangely I don’t know why? Why aren’t I out right now buying the latest widget I was told to buy via email this morning? No makey the sense. As someone famous once said, it only takes one exception to disprove a scientific proof.
Just yesterday I learned that extensive effort and money has been put into the music recording studio to make sure whatever we hear on the radio or buy on CD or DVD is at 440kHz. This is a recent thing apparently. Before that it was 432kHz. There was research that 440kHz “overpowered” the ear drum with “sound waves” rather than harmonised with the natural rhythms of ancient music styles. There was/is a movement to return to 432Khz.
Now excuse me if I’ve been brain-washed by the music industry, but I know what Public Enemy were talking about (at least in so far as to the reasons why I’m not invited to their block party) same with Disposible Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Arrested Development, NWA, Mos Def etc etc etc. Then start on Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, Henry Rollins, Tori Amos, Juliana Hatfield cough Midnight Oil *cough, Pulp, Oasis, Blur, Gorillaz, Beastie Boys, Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Dinosaur Jnr, Guided By Voices… blah blah blah all these Bands have heavy political commentary/motivations involved. I was way off the “easily controlled” range even before I knew it existed, despite 440kHz, and this is the tame stuff. This music was no more or less powerful than listening to, say, a cruddy old recording of CCR or Country Joe and the Fish. What you’re asking me to believe is that I am powerless in the face of those tricky scientists. Why? How?
Of course there is another angle too, that the reality those bands present is a confined space in itself. I got that too. the message I got didn’t include that they were all there was, and my life was not theirs – quite obviously – even though, if I could take you back, everyone and everything else thought they owned me or could tell me what was up.
So no. To be convinced, I need to see proof that I or anyone else is powerless in the face of what “The Republicans” or John’s friends know about me, that I don’t. Prove to me I want to be John Key. Prove to me I want to uncritically pursue the aims of white culture over my own conscience. Good luck.
To clarify what 440kHz did to a person: it made them anxious, move fast rather than slow, find things outside themselves to fix inner problems, lends them to addictions etc. Since I’m the only case in my study, I’ve lived fast, “successful”, anxious, slow and quiet, so slow people would say “any slower you’d be in a coma” so slow I’m been called the proverbial “scum” et al. I’ve gone the full range and if anything I’m less easily controlled by others.
440khz: I’m immune, you might be too.
The Republican research: I’m immune, you might be too.
If we are, why, who or where are these people who aren’t? And why don’t the Left use the same Republican research?
What “we” are asked to believe is that “The Republicans” or whoever the bad guys are, have the inside scoop on human motivations, a direct line to the sub-conscious; that is, there is really only one type of us and we are easily controlled.
The information is readily available and is even used to get people to continue to play video games (Especially MMOs). Like all information it just is but people put it to different uses and some of those uses are are simply immoral.
Democrats are not exactly a party of the poor either, in fact the antipathy to the elites in the US tends to come from the right rather than the left in the US. We need to go past this left/right dichotomy if we are to win this war that has been declared on us.
Agreed, both major parties in the US rule for the rich and not the people. The same is, slowly, happening here as well and we need to stop and reverse it before it goes any further.
Are you tuned out, turned off by the election, then you need to vote. Vote our incumbents is the best way of destabilizing those who think turning you off is good for them, and also lazy politicians who dont worry about your vote. Vote them out, get their attention.
Just read Nigel Latta’s “Ten things I learned,” while making the series. Succinct and heartening. Well worth a read. For example he sums up the political issue:
We are further apart now than ever before
Elections are won and lost in the middle, so politicians play to the middle. The left can count on the left, and the right will always have the right, but the middle is where governments stand or fall. So they play to the middle. The problem is that the middle has lost touch with the bottom. There are a lot of people out there who think poor people are lazy, people in prison are all bad buggers, and anyone who wants to make something of themselves can. I hope this series has helped people to see that these things aren’t necessarily true. It’s important for all of us to look after all of us. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316443
It’s hard to believe that people would fall for these old cliches about the poor. They have been said since we first came out of the trees. If people are still repeating them, it is a hell of a failure in education about our culture by parents, and formal education on civics which would examine the use of cliches and slogans in preventing honest thought and enquiry by the individual.
Yes Keith,
I spent 20yrs plus in Can/US and saw this also, since Watergate.
Most media both TV and Radio Channels used to be regional when I first went there in 1968 but by 1978 a lot of media was becoming corporate interests.
Then we began to witness the similarity of news coverage between them all except for Public service Television.
We lost our regional voice, and any traces of any Central Government persuasion was lost entirely as we see here.
Welcome to privatisation Corporatisation of N.Z.
All opposition should now unite and force an immediate royal commission into the corruption of our media by Government.
This morning Kim Hill show pointed out that more of our economy was finance industry that the UK’s!!!! Imagine now why the MSM is flooded with money and where it comes from. Hell, why manufacture when you can buy and sell assets thanks to the artificial risk premium of doing business in NZ. Strangely being more invested in the financial industry naturally makes a nation more risky! not less.
Another interesting point. Was how globalization is making nations more equal, but individually within nations citizens were becoming more unequal. This should not be surprising really, because in order to trade globally, and so create the means by which information and money is able to equalize the worlds economy, its often done by undermining and accentuating local inequality. Take housing, globalizing the source of capital decreases the buying power of the local citizens and accentuates the natural inequality that always exists. Government who serve their populations know that they must counter the huge power of the global market to cause huge inequality. Take China, Russia, US, Oil states, seem incapable of keeping a few grow infinity rich, whereas smaller states with rich democracies have no trouble passing citizen protecting legislative backstops.
And this reflects the political psychology of their establishments. Its about where we place the membrane separating money talk from our personal, community and family life. Whtye wants us to think, even when we’re on the dunny how much the price of a toilet roll is. He wants money, the route of all evil, invested in every aspect of our life. You could say he’s a money whore, no scruples, government must get entirely out of the way, even incest could abstractly be monetized.
Key, a keen merchant of money, you could say world class whore of world brokering, keenly knows he needs to separate himself from the emotions of a unclean life of money, for purely to keep plying the trade of money, for sure. As we all now are awaking to where its taken us, global enslavement where our owners will live on the other side of the world.
When we let them buy the MSM, when we let the likes of the right wing agitator that brings us our late night news, pushing his latest conquest of a large extremely expensive car, like our cars now are parts of our money life. To most, cars are tools for getting around, for a few they are extensions of their personality, and for even fewer they are the venal vibrators of their money whore lifestyles, extenders for their pathetic needy little persona’s in a world where the more money they have the more they are living, the more respected, the more powerful they must be.
Surely they such men cant be that sad, but yes, its true, they can’t take the money with them when they go, their super rich heros are giving it away, the likes of Gates and Buffet, because they aren’t the money, they are real people, not buffoons who merely trade in their money whoring.
Now please don’t get me wrong, its not that we all do money whore form time to time, its just its kept at the garden gate and not let in. And therein lies the problem with NZ, the whores are let into our homes every night, the MSM are filled out with money whores who every desperate moment is necessary used to pushing themselves to whore. TV used to be balanced, a few money whores at the margins of the TV schedule, necessary relief to give a fair fiscal overview of the current financial goings on. Now even ad have invaded our most loved tv series and news pushes brands of singers, etc.
Even the pissed up puffed up ranks and file must sell themselves off by keeping within Slaters framing and narrative, less they are seen as unattractive and are dropped from the brothel.
We are all dirtier after thirty years of revolutionary conservatism.
Michele Hewitson interview with Nicky Hager. Another great read. Puts Nicky into context the strange things that the Right say about him. The only jarring note was that she would include a negative quote from Matthew Hooten. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316298
Having just finished reading Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes and Conway, it is clear that the pamphlet/emailers are relying on uninformed people in order to make their point.
The example of DDT is covered in that book and the line the emailers push was very much part of the move to create doubt in peoples’ minds re the validity of the results of sound scientific processes. In short, DDT had lost effectiveness due to having been used so widely – the line pushed that many lives were lost from banning it is false.
Those are funny, or should be, if they didn’t accurately reflect certain mind-sets. “Labour means 30% Greens.” I like to try to keep my party cheerleading at arm’s distance, and I suggest no one puts their trust in the Greens for the sake of it, but I was kind of hoping that “Labour” would this time mean roughly 85% Greens.
IMHO it is an excellent analysis of how we have got to where we are at present in respect of the situation outlined in “Dirty Politics’ and current media/public broadcasting etc. It cuts across many of the recent posts and comments on TS, including those at 1 and 2 above.
Has push polling started yet? If you get called as to political preferences, sound a little ambivalent… not sure.. etc. You may get a followup call with “Are you sure? ” “Really? I’m surprised!” when you mention parties not to their liking.
The Brethren tried it an election or two ago. I am sure it will surface again.
Whyte, astounds everyone, by arguing that citizens aren’t
being offered enough money to get them out of bed. We
could assume its because bankers are overpaid, or that
the economy is mismanaged to produce under and unemployment,
but its most likely that stupid people want to impose the
authoritarian vision of men like Whyte that government isn’t
interventionists enough, imposing even more on citizens is great
for profits of fatcats, with the rally cry, why aren’t they slaves yet!
Why haven’t we turned the dregs into slaves! They obviously listless
and lazy. They deserve enslavement, only then will they standup
for themselves Whtye believes.
There is a buzz on twitter just now, the PM has called a press release at 12.30 and the journos are speculating Collins might be resigning/being thrown out.
Sad for Judith to go. She has been excellent for the Left! Poor old John has a prickly thorn in his side. (And Pullar is taking a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.)
Yes, since the fuss and excitement has died down, I feel like saying ‘Give ’em an Oscar’.
I think we have been utterly played. This is a big strawman game that aims to remove the apparent problem and allows the real one (severe corruption inside National circles) to carry on unobstucted.
In other words I believe Winston was on the money with what he said.
Am very very unhappy about the state of our democracy. 🙁
Those who have money and power in this country have just played a seriously cynical game today.
Give ’em an Oscar and then throw them in jail and throw away the key is what I conclude from today’s events.
Thanks Karol, Chris Trotter blog, he is onto it good on Chris I always thought he would shine.
Why are the right continuing with dirty politics?
Could it be the real poll results are stark that they continue this smear campaign process, and will the public blame shift to right being evil smear kings not the left ?
Will we ever know the true poll results as several are saying after being canvassed by these private pollsters that the questions asked are loaded or they are a series of questions like us and then told they don’t need us ?
Is the polling designed to be used to show effects of their changing election tactics?
If tis is the case then this is manipulation using the population or corruption of our democracy.
Please opposition, OUR REQUEST; coercion.
CALL FOR A OPPOSITION FORUM TO REQUEST AN URGENT REVIEW OF CORRUPT- COERCION OF OUR ELECTION POLLING PROCESS.
True that, but I think there will be plenty of internal friction.
There is every chance of those 17 forced out MPs and the different possible camps within the caucus, English camp, Joyce camp, Collins camp, Key’s camp, Slater-Lusk camp, Bennet’s camp coming out, exposing and doing political mud wrestling in private and in public. And then there are all the party electorate officials up in arms about all the ‘Dirty Politics’ stuff that affected them all. Besides, I think many voters have serious doubts now about the ‘innocence’ and ‘clean good guy’ image of Key. The reality is that National=Key! Without Key, Nats are not much! I think National have lost this election. Their last chance is Winston!
New Zealand First Tauranga candidate Clayton Mitchell said his party was now in a strong position: “We are now in a position to negotiate with National and get what we are after and that is what is best for New Zealand.”
And that means that voting NZ1st and the Conservatives is a vote for this corrupt government.
Radionz interviews and news this morning joined up some seemingly unconnected matters.
* A Waikato dairy farmer has been fined nearly $50,000 for discharging effluent into drains that led to a river, and then asking inspectors how much it would cost to make his prosecution problem disappear.
Mr Singh asked the inspectors not to report it to their supervisors and to take water samples in a manner that would not show any environmental effect. http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=192798&fm=psp,tsf
(Reports of embedded corruption in India would indicate that it is likely that people from that culture operating in business here would adopt similar behaviours. This tendency to follow learned behaviours applies of course to any new New Zealander and has to be considered, understood and watched for.)
* On Radionz there was a figure given that 2 billion people in the world do not have toilets. And there is an item below in which a soil scientist talks about the value of urine and faeces properly treated as fertiliser.
* This is a link for a very interesting clip about a long trip on a motorcycle which gave much insight into the countries visited. http://www.c90adventures.co.uk/news/76-india
The traveller found India to be one of the dirtiest. He shows in his videos women defecating in the fields. (I have learned that the Untouchable people in some areas are not allowed to use public toilets, and there is a time set aside for them to use the fields, possibly once a day early in the morning. So extending less respect for their needs and humanity than given to cows is acceptable in India. People with such warped attitudes if setting up businesses here have to be watched carefully.)
On destruction and deterioration of our precious environment, and infinitely precious drinking water. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional
Risks to water quality limits – report
Residents are being asked to pick from three council proposals relating to the Waikato River.
Modelling for the Environment Ministry shows some major water catchments will fail new water quality standards if planned dairy conversions go ahead.
Auckland water quality costly problem
A warning sign near Meola Creek in Auckland.
Half of Auckland’s fresh waterways are too polluted to use and future generations will face a multi-billion dollar bill to clean up, according to environmental managers.
These sound interesting for people interested in the money system and soil and food systems. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
8:15 John Lanchester
Lanchester JohnBritish journalist and author John Lanchester is the author of award-winning novels, including The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips, Fragrant Harbour, and Capital (which he spoke about on Saturday Morning in July 2012). He wrote about the financial crisis in the 2010 book, Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, and his new book is How to $p€ak Mone¥: What the Money People Say – and What They Really Mean (Faber & Faber, ISBN: 978-0-571-30982-5).
9:05 Stephen Nortcliff
Stephen NortcliffStephen Nortcliff is Emeritus Professor of Soil Science at Reading University, UK, was Secretary General of the International Union of Soil Sciences from 2002 to 2010, and was instrumental in making 2015 the UN International Year of Soils. Since retirement, Professor Nortcliff has been working with the charity Wherever the Need, which aims to provide sanitation for households and schools in parts of India and Africa using compost toilets. He is one of the guest speakers at Future Food for the Planet (AUT, 30 August at 12:00), an event at World Science Week New Zealand, in Auckland (25 August to 3 September).
So Winston has proved his proof after all. Sadly, it would clear the way for him to work in coalition with National because they will appear to be all cleaned up now ?
And anyone know anything more about this that is supposedly causing her resignation .. in Herald now …
“Collins’ resignation comes after evidence emerged in the past 24 hours of her role in moves to discredit SFO boss Adam Feeley.”
Whyte is just echoing the classical economical theorists of the late 19th century who thought that workers were inherently lazy and need to be threatened and yelled at to get them to do anything.They also thought that managers had inherent organizing and intellectual qualities that workers could never hope to understand. Workers were only good for physical labor and were incapable of self organizing or self managing. Like the Act party these theories have fallen in to disrepute and no educated person would embrace their outdated ideas. Thank god they won’t have any influence in the next govt.
I think everyone’s at the vege market yeshe – wait for the flood! Did you note btw how Patrick Gower is now beginning to see his futire flash before his eyes and is now being rather more sympathetic towards the non-dogma view?
More liars….
No. 41 Richard Prebble: “What I do know is that John will consider everything. He’s an honorable man….”
No. 40 Colin Craig: “I’m interested in raising the level of debate.”
No. 39 George W. Bush: “We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled.”
No. 38 Jeremy Hansen: “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”
No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie Jackson: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Quote from Duncan Garner’s piece on leadership looking at Poorer Benefit. (See OABs comment for link – http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082014/#comment-875999)
Can Labour refute what he says about their limp response to our welfare needs?
You can now have your benefit stopped, or docked, for not meeting expectations. There have been no mass welfare protests in the streets. Bennett has ushered through some big changes without controversy. She has worked closely with young mums on welfare.
Her office tells me that in 2009 there were 4300 teen mums on a benefit. At the end of last year that number had dropped to 2300. She has issued them with payment cards for the essentials.
Even Labour has struggled to criticise the changes. Labour says the numbers to look at are those children now living in poverty. In the latest Household Incomes Report, 135,000 children are now regarded as living in “severe poverty”. It has reached its highest level this century, according to Labour. So if that’s the case and Bennett is the Social Development Minister then why isn’t she copping it? She must have done something right.
Bennett may just be the National leader in waiting.
“Labour will fund the provision of emergency housing through a contestable fund so agencies like Monte Cecilia and the Salvation Army can manage the houses and provide support to help people get their lives back on track and then move into more sustainable long term housing.
Why are our politicians so determined to make things far more expensive than they need to be? All a contestable fund will do is increase bureaucracy and decrease the money going to the provision of emergency housing. Just set up a government department for the provision of the services.
“Perhaps Jared Savage might like to explain what precisely he as a journalist was doing feeding information to Cameron Slater that Savage couldn’t publish himself. If the NZ Herald can’t use certain information in a story, it’s presumably because they’re worried about the legal consequences. So why would a reputable journalist then pass that information on to a blogger to use?
Let’s look at the Len Brown sex scandal story. It wasn’t something any mainstream media outlet was going to touch. Until it was all over the Whaleoil site, which meant that it was now news. Was/Is there a similar modus operandi here from those working at the Herald? We can’t run the story, but if we give it to Slater we can report on what he’s “reported”?
Or was it simply a Herald smear campaign against the then-SFO director? “We can’t report it, but we want to take him down.” Because if that’s the case, that’s not journalism; that’s a vendetta. Worse, it’s a vendetta performed in secret by the very people we are supposed to trust as impartial reporters of fact.”
The Herald looks like it’s been up to its neck in mud over the Dirty Politics saga.
Remember Glucina’s involvement as well in spreading gossip and smears.
The Herald looks like it’s been up to its neck in mud over the Dirty Politics saga.
Remember Glucina’s involvement as well in spreading gossip and smears.
FACT or FICTION?
Fact or fiction
In the second week of a new fact-checking column, Brent Edwards checks claims made by Judith Collins, John Key, David Cunliffe, Rangi McLean and Winston Peters.
It is an effort to hold politicians to account and ensure public statements they make during the election campaign are factual – not fiction or exaggeration.
It is unlikely that we will be able to check every claim but we will try.
If you hear claims made by politicians that make you suspicious, email us at parl@radionz.co.nz. Better still, include any documented evidence that you have proving a statement made by a politician is either wrong or exaggerated.
Include “fact or fiction” in the subject field so we know to check.
As well as uncovering fiction and exaggeration, we will also confirm when politicians have got it right.
Thanks for sharing, interesting to glimpse what the expanded GCHQ budgets have been going towards. I downloaded it as I’m not sure how long that link will be active once the slipup is noticed. It looks like a powerpoint slideshow to me, it’d be interesting to know what script/ talk is intended to go with it. Also what does; “SECRET// SI// REL TO USA, FEVY” (on every page) actually mean; particularly to a member of the public who is not subject to military regulations?
THE ART of DECEPTION. Training for a new generation of online covert operations
Pages 10-12, 24, & 42 are particularly fascinating
“The SSO Optimization team’s job is to identify these types of data, and ensure appropriate corrective action is taken, throttling the data from corporate content or metadata repositories, as appropriate.”
My reply on this is in spam censorship at the moment. Basically it’s about theft of information by the NSA etc, specifically specialising in stealing contacts from our address books. This of course is to stop us from associating with the wrong sort of people.
We’re back in Rome, a Rome where if you pipe up with criticism of the Emperor then you get to choose your form of suicide. The main problem I have with that is that this was more imaginary than real originally. Our elites are basing our future condition on an idealised state as imagined by Tyrants and their minions but one that I would suggest never existed in the first place.
There was a side discussion in one of the now many Collins-bites-it posts about Cameron Slater’s social status and his part in the downfall of a government. Can’t find it now, but will post here because it should concern the Left – or usually does.
The comment went along the lines of oh the irony, unemployed mentally ill man has extremely high intelligence and brings down a government that usually hates his “kind”.
If I have that grossly wrong, taken from memory, I don’t mean to purposely misrepresent to prove something that isn’t there.
The gist reveals how mental illness is viewed in the heat of the moment by average people. I rate you all as average – myself included – you know, the person you often walk past on the street. It’s the heat of the moment that can reveal accuracies that wold otherwise be smothered with what is considered right or politically correct.
It is kind of ironic, Cameron Slater having done what he’s done, both purposely and inadvertently. On the one hand he is living testament, a far more real face of recovered illness than the stories used on those TV ads. Not everyone who is or was ill is permanently crazy, suddenly much smarter or changed in positive ways, or even at all. Some might discover bright truths about the world or themselves through mental illness. Others just go back to being whatever they were, still more find life changed dramatically and seemingly irreconcilably. What’s missing out of those ads is that fact. Those ads have no range.
Those on the Right, if we can utilise a convenient but not entirely untrue stereotype for a while, would be screaming, “See I told you, that’s why you should expel the mentally ill from society! They’re untrustable loons! They’ll bring us all down!”. My view is, leaving aside the amazing damage done and general subversion of democratic principles, his “achievements” are remarkable. If Slater can do all that strategic thinking, after battling depression and/or god knows what else for so long, he really has an impressive mind. A mind with limits, maybe a dark and seriously dangerous mind, but brilliant none the less. I don’t know if he was that smart before his illness, but if it made him smarter, why do we side line those who can contribute while they experience illness and those who have or are recovering. Even the Right would have to agree he’s disproved all their slogans about earning a place in society; being formally educated, that the rich are the only ones who know how to rule; that the unemployed are lazy bludgers (the work, the effort!) … the slogans the man has disproved are endless.
The JK ads on mental illness would have you believe that those who have seen the worst are of a singular type, their conditions leading to a similar end state: docile, retiring, friendly, shell-shocked, something that’s needs a break and a helping hand. Don’t get me wrong, many do, just don’t think it’s the rule. People are people, regardless.
Bravo, Whalemind, you evil genius. Helping us break down stigmas and exposing the lies of our well-meaning beliefs even as you destroy our democracy.
I don’t believe any of that for a minute. If there is anyone with any real intelligence in that operation, it’s not Slater. You need to remember that he doesn’t even write most of the stuff. He just puts his name to it. And as far as the right would be concerned, Blubber Boy gained his place in their society by birth into a prominent NAct family.
When the right start spreading outrageously funny “chinese” whispers among the legal fraternity about David Cunliffe’s private life, you know how VERY VERY SCARED of him they are!!! A friend of mine told me very very earnestly that she has an “impeccable source” who told her that rumours are swirling around the legal fraternity about David Cunliffe. I nearly burst out laughing – I’d believe that John Key was a rodent-swallowing alien before I would believe this latest serving of tripe – It’s got a very fishy smell, as everything whale usually does! THE RIGHT ARE GETTING REALLY DESPERATE AND SCARED!!! This makes me smile like a Cheshire Cat who swallowed the whole cow full of cream!!
Look, you want nasty stuff from the legal fraternity? Finlayson. I’ve been passed lots of dirty info on him from lawyers in the past six years. Judicial appointments. Staff issues. Personal guff. Whoever wants to play dirty needs to know that if I know this stuff, someone less discerning about privacy knows this stuff. And it’s a free for all out there. National need to clean up and you don’t do that by flinging more shit.
Why is everybody posting here worrying about trivia?
There is only one significant item of news today.
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Just a thought’ If Cameron manages to get a prosecution against people who illegally received and subsequently acted on his hacked e mails, doesn’t that now include John Key? -sacking Judith Collins on the basis of a ‘stolen’ e mail would have to be an offense, wouldn’t it?
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
Judith Collins, the gift that keeps on giving.
Garner joins the chorous of Bennett acolytes.
Adam Bennett muscles in on Pete George’s territory and finds it abandoned. The larder is full. The fire is going. Adam has a good feed and puts his feet up.
🙂
All today’s Judith Collins news in one handy place! This new in, Collins leaks ACC whistleblower’s name to Cam Slater: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10440930/Complaint-turns-up-heat-on-Collins
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/252810/fact-or-fiction
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316453
Why are opposition Parties not pursuing the MSM media to get their messages and policies out there, as administrators were asking them to do?
Blogs were spending most of the time concentrating on Slatergate for two weeks every day, and some strongly suggested we now concentrate on discussing opposition parties policies so why are we still not hearing about Opposition Parties policies to discuss our views on?
Is this because the MSM are completely failing to give adequate time to opposition parties?
This while every news broadcast virtually all we hear is Key whining about other parties policies, and not much else.
We believe the MSM must begin time slot political time breaks to give all opposition parties informational opportunities to get their messages of policies directed at the electorate out so the people can hear what they are.
Take this Saturday morning 30/8/14 for example,
I turn first to RNZ, and nothing on Policics, then go to TVNZ nothing there, except for The Nation scheduled on TV3 a private channel so nothing on politics at all on our so called public broadcaster?
Is this the election we are having when we are not having an election, or Nat’s way of shutting interest down among voters?
NZ Also very light on politics.
The MSM want NZers to be asleep.
Apologies if this has been commented on before but I was interested to hear at the formal launch of the National Party’s campaign in Manukau, an almost manic John Key, shout :
‘Breaking news, Ritchie McCaw’s texted and says ‘Yes you can”.’
In light of the Rugby News cover a while back, is this an indication that McCaw is formally backing the National Party or has TeamKey just co-opted him and the AB brand?
The lag in posts appearing is a bit annoying. I’d probably have spotted my error in my Open Mike post last night (which was caused by being distracted by my partner loudly expressing astonishment at Stuart SMITH’s ineptitude at the Hurunui electorate debate) and corrected it but the lag meant I didn’t get the chance. So I inadvertently slandered poor Stuart Nash – whose name is unfortunately fixed in my memory by virtue of Simon Lusk having described him as an ‘exceptionally gifted politician’.
fixed yet..?
Brilliant article by Nigel Latta
His 10 points
People really do care about other people
We don’t talk enough about the really important things
There are dark shapes swirling around under the water
People who should know better seem to ignore the science with hardly a backward glance.
There is more cause for hope than ever before.
The bad guys fight dirty
We are further apart now than ever before
We’re hungry for leadership
Television can be meaningful
Things can be better
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316443
If you haven’t watched his TV series , please do and encourage everyone you know to watch it!
All NZers should watch it.
It’s on TVNZ on demand.
Topics covered
1. Inequality
2. Alcohol
3. Child abuse
4. Prison
5. Sugar …not yet screened
It is very suspicious that there is nothing on the state channels. The tactics that the nats are employing are straight from the Republican play book. Turn off as many voters as possible. The right can not win on policies or the popular vote. They know that and through the stacking of the public service their tactics are proving to be very effective. John really shows his American side with so many of his ideas straight out of the Republican party.i was shocked to see the blantent use of this after returning from living in the states for many years. Not only are they lacking in any original ideas they are taking the worst of the American concepts. Hurry up and return to your Republican buddies john.
The US has done a hell of a lot of research over the years on why people react the way that they do to external stimuli. Those lessons are then used by the US Republican’s to produce manipulative advertising and word grouping, the effects noted and refined. That knowledge is then exported to other conservative parties around the world. There is, effectively, only one conservative party in the world and it’s dominated by the US.
So succinctly put Draco. “There is only one conservative party in the world and it’s dominated by the US” that’s one helluva quotable.
Not surprisingly I’m not convinced. What “we” are asked to believe is that “The Republicans” or whoever the bad guys are, have the inside scoop on human motivations, a direct line to the sub-conscious; that is, there is really only one type of us and we are easily controlled. Now I’m not saying there aren’t people who are easily led or who fit the stereotype, but why then do people like you, me and the rest of the resistors exist untouched, despite our diverse backgrounds and conditioning? Do you suggest we all just give up? Why aren’t I immediately a possum in Key’s headlights? Why did I not see a couple of guys paddling a National boat and think, wow, that is soooo me yet strangely I don’t know why? Why aren’t I out right now buying the latest widget I was told to buy via email this morning? No makey the sense. As someone famous once said, it only takes one exception to disprove a scientific proof.
Just yesterday I learned that extensive effort and money has been put into the music recording studio to make sure whatever we hear on the radio or buy on CD or DVD is at 440kHz. This is a recent thing apparently. Before that it was 432kHz. There was research that 440kHz “overpowered” the ear drum with “sound waves” rather than harmonised with the natural rhythms of ancient music styles. There was/is a movement to return to 432Khz.
Now excuse me if I’ve been brain-washed by the music industry, but I know what Public Enemy were talking about (at least in so far as to the reasons why I’m not invited to their block party) same with Disposible Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Arrested Development, NWA, Mos Def etc etc etc. Then start on Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, Henry Rollins, Tori Amos, Juliana Hatfield cough Midnight Oil *cough, Pulp, Oasis, Blur, Gorillaz, Beastie Boys, Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Dinosaur Jnr, Guided By Voices… blah blah blah all these Bands have heavy political commentary/motivations involved. I was way off the “easily controlled” range even before I knew it existed, despite 440kHz, and this is the tame stuff. This music was no more or less powerful than listening to, say, a cruddy old recording of CCR or Country Joe and the Fish. What you’re asking me to believe is that I am powerless in the face of those tricky scientists. Why? How?
Of course there is another angle too, that the reality those bands present is a confined space in itself. I got that too. the message I got didn’t include that they were all there was, and my life was not theirs – quite obviously – even though, if I could take you back, everyone and everything else thought they owned me or could tell me what was up.
So no. To be convinced, I need to see proof that I or anyone else is powerless in the face of what “The Republicans” or John’s friends know about me, that I don’t. Prove to me I want to be John Key. Prove to me I want to uncritically pursue the aims of white culture over my own conscience. Good luck.
To clarify what 440kHz did to a person: it made them anxious, move fast rather than slow, find things outside themselves to fix inner problems, lends them to addictions etc. Since I’m the only case in my study, I’ve lived fast, “successful”, anxious, slow and quiet, so slow people would say “any slower you’d be in a coma” so slow I’m been called the proverbial “scum” et al. I’ve gone the full range and if anything I’m less easily controlled by others.
440khz: I’m immune, you might be too.
The Republican research: I’m immune, you might be too.
If we are, why, who or where are these people who aren’t? And why don’t the Left use the same Republican research?
Watch this documentary.
The information is readily available and is even used to get people to continue to play video games (Especially MMOs). Like all information it just is but people put it to different uses and some of those uses are are simply immoral.
Democrats are not exactly a party of the poor either, in fact the antipathy to the elites in the US tends to come from the right rather than the left in the US. We need to go past this left/right dichotomy if we are to win this war that has been declared on us.
Agreed, both major parties in the US rule for the rich and not the people. The same is, slowly, happening here as well and we need to stop and reverse it before it goes any further.
Are you tuned out, turned off by the election, then you need to vote. Vote our incumbents is the best way of destabilizing those who think turning you off is good for them, and also lazy politicians who dont worry about your vote. Vote them out, get their attention.
Just thought I would follow up on an early comment on Open Mike about Dirty Politics.
If anyone living in Wellington can’t afford a copy and is keen to read the book, please post a comment. I am happy to loan my copy out!
Just read Nigel Latta’s “Ten things I learned,” while making the series. Succinct and heartening. Well worth a read. For example he sums up the political issue:
Elections are won and lost in the middle, so politicians play to the middle. The left can count on the left, and the right will always have the right, but the middle is where governments stand or fall. So they play to the middle. The problem is that the middle has lost touch with the bottom. There are a lot of people out there who think poor people are lazy, people in prison are all bad buggers, and anyone who wants to make something of themselves can. I hope this series has helped people to see that these things aren’t necessarily true. It’s important for all of us to look after all of us.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316443
It’s hard to believe that people would fall for these old cliches about the poor. They have been said since we first came out of the trees. If people are still repeating them, it is a hell of a failure in education about our culture by parents, and formal education on civics which would examine the use of cliches and slogans in preventing honest thought and enquiry by the individual.
Yes Keith,
I spent 20yrs plus in Can/US and saw this also, since Watergate.
Most media both TV and Radio Channels used to be regional when I first went there in 1968 but by 1978 a lot of media was becoming corporate interests.
Then we began to witness the similarity of news coverage between them all except for Public service Television.
We lost our regional voice, and any traces of any Central Government persuasion was lost entirely as we see here.
Welcome to privatisation Corporatisation of N.Z.
All opposition should now unite and force an immediate royal commission into the corruption of our media by Government.
This morning Kim Hill show pointed out that more of our economy was finance industry that the UK’s!!!! Imagine now why the MSM is flooded with money and where it comes from. Hell, why manufacture when you can buy and sell assets thanks to the artificial risk premium of doing business in NZ. Strangely being more invested in the financial industry naturally makes a nation more risky! not less.
Another interesting point. Was how globalization is making nations more equal, but individually within nations citizens were becoming more unequal. This should not be surprising really, because in order to trade globally, and so create the means by which information and money is able to equalize the worlds economy, its often done by undermining and accentuating local inequality. Take housing, globalizing the source of capital decreases the buying power of the local citizens and accentuates the natural inequality that always exists. Government who serve their populations know that they must counter the huge power of the global market to cause huge inequality. Take China, Russia, US, Oil states, seem incapable of keeping a few grow infinity rich, whereas smaller states with rich democracies have no trouble passing citizen protecting legislative backstops.
And this reflects the political psychology of their establishments. Its about where we place the membrane separating money talk from our personal, community and family life. Whtye wants us to think, even when we’re on the dunny how much the price of a toilet roll is. He wants money, the route of all evil, invested in every aspect of our life. You could say he’s a money whore, no scruples, government must get entirely out of the way, even incest could abstractly be monetized.
Key, a keen merchant of money, you could say world class whore of world brokering, keenly knows he needs to separate himself from the emotions of a unclean life of money, for purely to keep plying the trade of money, for sure. As we all now are awaking to where its taken us, global enslavement where our owners will live on the other side of the world.
When we let them buy the MSM, when we let the likes of the right wing agitator that brings us our late night news, pushing his latest conquest of a large extremely expensive car, like our cars now are parts of our money life. To most, cars are tools for getting around, for a few they are extensions of their personality, and for even fewer they are the venal vibrators of their money whore lifestyles, extenders for their pathetic needy little persona’s in a world where the more money they have the more they are living, the more respected, the more powerful they must be.
Surely they such men cant be that sad, but yes, its true, they can’t take the money with them when they go, their super rich heros are giving it away, the likes of Gates and Buffet, because they aren’t the money, they are real people, not buffoons who merely trade in their money whoring.
Now please don’t get me wrong, its not that we all do money whore form time to time, its just its kept at the garden gate and not let in. And therein lies the problem with NZ, the whores are let into our homes every night, the MSM are filled out with money whores who every desperate moment is necessary used to pushing themselves to whore. TV used to be balanced, a few money whores at the margins of the TV schedule, necessary relief to give a fair fiscal overview of the current financial goings on. Now even ad have invaded our most loved tv series and news pushes brands of singers, etc.
Even the pissed up puffed up ranks and file must sell themselves off by keeping within Slaters framing and narrative, less they are seen as unattractive and are dropped from the brothel.
We are all dirtier after thirty years of revolutionary conservatism.
Amazing article by Nigel Latta today.
Nigel Latta: Ten things I’ve learned
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316443
If you haven’t seen his TV series, you should….
http://tvnz.co.nz/nigel-latta/s1-ep5-video-6052810
Michele Hewitson interview with Nicky Hager. Another great read. Puts Nicky into context the strange things that the Right say about him. The only jarring note was that she would include a negative quote from Matthew Hooten.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316298
+100
So the cowardly covert, smear machine manipulators have opened a new billboard front. Trotter and Idiot Savant/NRT are onto it.
Looks like billboards from Federated Farmers and an ACT front man.
That is awful
Having just finished reading Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes and Conway, it is clear that the pamphlet/emailers are relying on uninformed people in order to make their point.
The example of DDT is covered in that book and the line the emailers push was very much part of the move to create doubt in peoples’ minds re the validity of the results of sound scientific processes. In short, DDT had lost effectiveness due to having been used so widely – the line pushed that many lives were lost from banning it is false.
Of course it’s false – the right can’t win by telling the truth and so they lie and, as you say, hope that ignorance wins out.
Wondered when that front would be launched.
whatever it takes, no stoop to low and it will probably be relentless till 20/9 as theres plenty of resources to be deployed for such measures.
Hopefully, in this current climate with suspicion everywhere, they will be outed and dumped in their own manure.
Those are funny, or should be, if they didn’t accurately reflect certain mind-sets. “Labour means 30% Greens.” I like to try to keep my party cheerleading at arm’s distance, and I suggest no one puts their trust in the Greens for the sake of it, but I was kind of hoping that “Labour” would this time mean roughly 85% Greens.
If you have not already read it, I strongly recommend reading Wayne Hope’s post yesterday on TDB
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/29/democracy-and-cancer-a-critical-analysis-of-dirty-politics/
IMHO it is an excellent analysis of how we have got to where we are at present in respect of the situation outlined in “Dirty Politics’ and current media/public broadcasting etc. It cuts across many of the recent posts and comments on TS, including those at 1 and 2 above.
Has push polling started yet? If you get called as to political preferences, sound a little ambivalent… not sure.. etc. You may get a followup call with “Are you sure? ” “Really? I’m surprised!” when you mention parties not to their liking.
The Brethren tried it an election or two ago. I am sure it will surface again.
There’s a bit of weekend reading over on Daily Blog for those concerned about the state of the media. Wayne Hope has written a thorough analysis with a historical background plus a vision for a better future.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/29/democracy-and-cancer-a-critical-analysis-of-dirty-politics/
Whyte, astounds everyone, by arguing that citizens aren’t
being offered enough money to get them out of bed. We
could assume its because bankers are overpaid, or that
the economy is mismanaged to produce under and unemployment,
but its most likely that stupid people want to impose the
authoritarian vision of men like Whyte that government isn’t
interventionists enough, imposing even more on citizens is great
for profits of fatcats, with the rally cry, why aren’t they slaves yet!
Why haven’t we turned the dregs into slaves! They obviously listless
and lazy. They deserve enslavement, only then will they standup
for themselves Whtye believes.
There is a buzz on twitter just now, the PM has called a press release at 12.30 and the journos are speculating Collins might be resigning/being thrown out.
or simply ‘stood down’ as suggested by CrayCray on Nation this am …
Sad for Judith to go. She has been excellent for the Left! Poor old John has a prickly thorn in his side. (And Pullar is taking a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.)
Yes, since the fuss and excitement has died down, I feel like saying ‘Give ’em an Oscar’.
I think we have been utterly played. This is a big strawman game that aims to remove the apparent problem and allows the real one (severe corruption inside National circles) to carry on unobstucted.
In other words I believe Winston was on the money with what he said.
Am very very unhappy about the state of our democracy. 🙁
Those who have money and power in this country have just played a seriously cynical game today.
Give ’em an Oscar and then throw them in jail and throw away the key is what I conclude from today’s events.
Thanks Karol, Chris Trotter blog, he is onto it good on Chris I always thought he would shine.
Why are the right continuing with dirty politics?
Could it be the real poll results are stark that they continue this smear campaign process, and will the public blame shift to right being evil smear kings not the left ?
Will we ever know the true poll results as several are saying after being canvassed by these private pollsters that the questions asked are loaded or they are a series of questions like us and then told they don’t need us ?
Is the polling designed to be used to show effects of their changing election tactics?
If tis is the case then this is manipulation using the population or corruption of our democracy.
Please opposition, OUR REQUEST; coercion.
CALL FOR A OPPOSITION FORUM TO REQUEST AN URGENT REVIEW OF CORRUPT- COERCION OF OUR ELECTION POLLING PROCESS.
PM holding a press conference at 12:30. Journos on Twitter saying Collins is resigning.
The only problem with that is he will go up in the estimation of the public again and be seen as showing true leadership and cleansing out the rot
True that, but I think there will be plenty of internal friction.
There is every chance of those 17 forced out MPs and the different possible camps within the caucus, English camp, Joyce camp, Collins camp, Key’s camp, Slater-Lusk camp, Bennet’s camp coming out, exposing and doing political mud wrestling in private and in public. And then there are all the party electorate officials up in arms about all the ‘Dirty Politics’ stuff that affected them all. Besides, I think many voters have serious doubts now about the ‘innocence’ and ‘clean good guy’ image of Key. The reality is that National=Key! Without Key, Nats are not much! I think National have lost this election. Their last chance is Winston!
Apparently so:
And that means that voting NZ1st and the Conservatives is a vote for this corrupt government.
And the herald suggests that Judith Collins is resigning
Radionz interviews and news this morning joined up some seemingly unconnected matters.
* A Waikato dairy farmer has been fined nearly $50,000 for discharging effluent into drains that led to a river, and then asking inspectors how much it would cost to make his prosecution problem disappear.
Mr Singh asked the inspectors not to report it to their supervisors and to take water samples in a manner that would not show any environmental effect.
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=192798&fm=psp,tsf
(Reports of embedded corruption in India would indicate that it is likely that people from that culture operating in business here would adopt similar behaviours. This tendency to follow learned behaviours applies of course to any new New Zealander and has to be considered, understood and watched for.)
* On Radionz there was a figure given that 2 billion people in the world do not have toilets. And there is an item below in which a soil scientist talks about the value of urine and faeces properly treated as fertiliser.
* This is a link for a very interesting clip about a long trip on a motorcycle which gave much insight into the countries visited. http://www.c90adventures.co.uk/news/76-india
The traveller found India to be one of the dirtiest. He shows in his videos women defecating in the fields. (I have learned that the Untouchable people in some areas are not allowed to use public toilets, and there is a time set aside for them to use the fields, possibly once a day early in the morning. So extending less respect for their needs and humanity than given to cows is acceptable in India. People with such warped attitudes if setting up businesses here have to be watched carefully.)
On destruction and deterioration of our precious environment, and infinitely precious drinking water.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional
Risks to water quality limits – report
Residents are being asked to pick from three council proposals relating to the Waikato River.
Modelling for the Environment Ministry shows some major water catchments will fail new water quality standards if planned dairy conversions go ahead.
Auckland water quality costly problem
A warning sign near Meola Creek in Auckland.
Half of Auckland’s fresh waterways are too polluted to use and future generations will face a multi-billion dollar bill to clean up, according to environmental managers.
These sound interesting for people interested in the money system and soil and food systems.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
8:15 John Lanchester
Lanchester JohnBritish journalist and author John Lanchester is the author of award-winning novels, including The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips, Fragrant Harbour, and Capital (which he spoke about on Saturday Morning in July 2012). He wrote about the financial crisis in the 2010 book, Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, and his new book is How to $p€ak Mone¥: What the Money People Say – and What They Really Mean (Faber & Faber, ISBN: 978-0-571-30982-5).
9:05 Stephen Nortcliff
Stephen NortcliffStephen Nortcliff is Emeritus Professor of Soil Science at Reading University, UK, was Secretary General of the International Union of Soil Sciences from 2002 to 2010, and was instrumental in making 2015 the UN International Year of Soils. Since retirement, Professor Nortcliff has been working with the charity Wherever the Need, which aims to provide sanitation for households and schools in parts of India and Africa using compost toilets. He is one of the guest speakers at Future Food for the Planet (AUT, 30 August at 12:00), an event at World Science Week New Zealand, in Auckland (25 August to 3 September).
So Winston has proved his proof after all. Sadly, it would clear the way for him to work in coalition with National because they will appear to be all cleaned up now ?
And anyone know anything more about this that is supposedly causing her resignation .. in Herald now …
“Collins’ resignation comes after evidence emerged in the past 24 hours of her role in moves to discredit SFO boss Adam Feeley.”
Watch the internal blood letting within National that will get unleashed now.
You haven’t seen nothing yet!
Bye Nats. Bye ACT. Bye Dunne. Bye Banks!
You are the past. Cunliffe led Labour government is the future!
For a better fairer New Zealand!
Indeed ! Now, what if one of the 17 paid-$330K-to-leave Nats would come forward with all the details ..
And whaledump is due home from Vanuatu … or wherever he has pretended to be …
Whyte is just echoing the classical economical theorists of the late 19th century who thought that workers were inherently lazy and need to be threatened and yelled at to get them to do anything.They also thought that managers had inherent organizing and intellectual qualities that workers could never hope to understand. Workers were only good for physical labor and were incapable of self organizing or self managing. Like the Act party these theories have fallen in to disrepute and no educated person would embrace their outdated ideas. Thank god they won’t have any influence in the next govt.
and if anyone knows a livestream of the media call, pse can you post it ? thx.
Looks like there will be a TV3 News Special with Gower and Lisa Owen … ..
I think everyone’s at the vege market yeshe – wait for the flood! Did you note btw how Patrick Gower is now beginning to see his futire flash before his eyes and is now being rather more sympathetic towards the non-dogma view?
Unexpected news conference shortly …. significant…
A resignation perhaps? Key or Collins – either is OK by me
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 42: John Key
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“We’ve been given a tremendous gift tonight, the trust and goodwill of New Zealanders, and I do not take that trust for granted.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—John Key, victory speech on election night, Saturday 26 November 2011
More liars….
No. 41 Richard Prebble: “What I do know is that John will consider everything. He’s an honorable man….”
No. 40 Colin Craig: “I’m interested in raising the level of debate.”
No. 39 George W. Bush: “We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled.”
No. 38 Jeremy Hansen: “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”
No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie Jackson: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Quote from Duncan Garner’s piece on leadership looking at Poorer Benefit. (See OABs comment for link – http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082014/#comment-875999)
Can Labour refute what he says about their limp response to our welfare needs?
You can now have your benefit stopped, or docked, for not meeting expectations. There have been no mass welfare protests in the streets. Bennett has ushered through some big changes without controversy. She has worked closely with young mums on welfare.
Her office tells me that in 2009 there were 4300 teen mums on a benefit. At the end of last year that number had dropped to 2300. She has issued them with payment cards for the essentials.
Even Labour has struggled to criticise the changes. Labour says the numbers to look at are those children now living in poverty. In the latest Household Incomes Report, 135,000 children are now regarded as living in “severe poverty”. It has reached its highest level this century, according to Labour. So if that’s the case and Bennett is the Social Development Minister then why isn’t she copping it? She must have done something right.
Bennett may just be the National leader in waiting.
She’s no leader, but then possibly that applies to Key as well.
Labour’s plan to end homelessness
Why are our politicians so determined to make things far more expensive than they need to be? All a contestable fund will do is increase bureaucracy and decrease the money going to the provision of emergency housing. Just set up a government department for the provision of the services.
That’s a very good question
http://jononatusch.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/serious-questions-for-jared-savage-the-nz-herald/
“Perhaps Jared Savage might like to explain what precisely he as a journalist was doing feeding information to Cameron Slater that Savage couldn’t publish himself. If the NZ Herald can’t use certain information in a story, it’s presumably because they’re worried about the legal consequences. So why would a reputable journalist then pass that information on to a blogger to use?
Let’s look at the Len Brown sex scandal story. It wasn’t something any mainstream media outlet was going to touch. Until it was all over the Whaleoil site, which meant that it was now news. Was/Is there a similar modus operandi here from those working at the Herald? We can’t run the story, but if we give it to Slater we can report on what he’s “reported”?
Or was it simply a Herald smear campaign against the then-SFO director? “We can’t report it, but we want to take him down.” Because if that’s the case, that’s not journalism; that’s a vendetta. Worse, it’s a vendetta performed in secret by the very people we are supposed to trust as impartial reporters of fact.”
The Herald looks like it’s been up to its neck in mud over the Dirty Politics saga.
Remember Glucina’s involvement as well in spreading gossip and smears.
The Herald looks like it’s been up to its neck in mud over the Dirty Politics saga.
Remember Glucina’s involvement as well in spreading gossip and smears.
Political opinion and comment on Radio nz.
Next up http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/252810/election-2014-fact-or-fiction
5:11 PM Campaign Focus
Radio New Zealand’s political editor Brent Edwards looks back at the week on the hustings (2 of 4, RNZ)
FACT or FICTION?
Fact or fiction
In the second week of a new fact-checking column, Brent Edwards checks claims made by Judith Collins, John Key, David Cunliffe, Rangi McLean and Winston Peters.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/252810/fact-or-fiction
Each week on this page, Radio New Zealand will be checking the claims made by political parties and their candidates against the facts.
It is an effort to hold politicians to account and ensure public statements they make during the election campaign are factual – not fiction or exaggeration.
It is unlikely that we will be able to check every claim but we will try.
If you hear claims made by politicians that make you suspicious, email us at parl@radionz.co.nz. Better still, include any documented evidence that you have proving a statement made by a politician is either wrong or exaggerated.
Include “fact or fiction” in the subject field so we know to check.
As well as uncovering fiction and exaggeration, we will also confirm when politicians have got it right.
Just searching for the original document from the Herald site of that Collins email, came across this;
http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1021430/the-art-of-deception-training-for-a-new.pdf
Rich
Thanks for sharing, interesting to glimpse what the expanded GCHQ budgets have been going towards. I downloaded it as I’m not sure how long that link will be active once the slipup is noticed. It looks like a powerpoint slideshow to me, it’d be interesting to know what script/ talk is intended to go with it. Also what does; “SECRET// SI// REL TO USA, FEVY” (on every page) actually mean; particularly to a member of the public who is not subject to military regulations?
Pages 10-12, 24, & 42 are particularly fascinating
Yes that’s what I thought first up as well but a search on the title indicates that it was released by wikileaks. So it’s in more than one place.
As for what “SECRET// SI// REL TO USA, FEVY” is? It’s basically about Tyranny and the theft of our information and especially address books it seems;
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/usa-nsa-sso-overview.pdf
“The SSO Optimization team’s job is to identify these types of data, and ensure appropriate corrective action is taken, throttling the data from corporate content or metadata repositories, as appropriate.”
My reply on this is in spam censorship at the moment. Basically it’s about theft of information by the NSA etc, specifically specialising in stealing contacts from our address books. This of course is to stop us from associating with the wrong sort of people.
We’re back in Rome, a Rome where if you pipe up with criticism of the Emperor then you get to choose your form of suicide. The main problem I have with that is that this was more imaginary than real originally. Our elites are basing our future condition on an idealised state as imagined by Tyrants and their minions but one that I would suggest never existed in the first place.
Just searching for the original Collins email pdf and came across this;
http dot //s3 dot documentcloud dot org slash documents slash 1021430 slash the-art-of-deception-training-for-a-new dot pdf
you’ll have to change the slash to / and the dot to .
A double up due to trying to get past the supposed spam filter.
There was a side discussion in one of the now many Collins-bites-it posts about Cameron Slater’s social status and his part in the downfall of a government. Can’t find it now, but will post here because it should concern the Left – or usually does.
The comment went along the lines of oh the irony, unemployed mentally ill man has extremely high intelligence and brings down a government that usually hates his “kind”.
If I have that grossly wrong, taken from memory, I don’t mean to purposely misrepresent to prove something that isn’t there.
The gist reveals how mental illness is viewed in the heat of the moment by average people. I rate you all as average – myself included – you know, the person you often walk past on the street. It’s the heat of the moment that can reveal accuracies that wold otherwise be smothered with what is considered right or politically correct.
It is kind of ironic, Cameron Slater having done what he’s done, both purposely and inadvertently. On the one hand he is living testament, a far more real face of recovered illness than the stories used on those TV ads. Not everyone who is or was ill is permanently crazy, suddenly much smarter or changed in positive ways, or even at all. Some might discover bright truths about the world or themselves through mental illness. Others just go back to being whatever they were, still more find life changed dramatically and seemingly irreconcilably. What’s missing out of those ads is that fact. Those ads have no range.
Those on the Right, if we can utilise a convenient but not entirely untrue stereotype for a while, would be screaming, “See I told you, that’s why you should expel the mentally ill from society! They’re untrustable loons! They’ll bring us all down!”. My view is, leaving aside the amazing damage done and general subversion of democratic principles, his “achievements” are remarkable. If Slater can do all that strategic thinking, after battling depression and/or god knows what else for so long, he really has an impressive mind. A mind with limits, maybe a dark and seriously dangerous mind, but brilliant none the less. I don’t know if he was that smart before his illness, but if it made him smarter, why do we side line those who can contribute while they experience illness and those who have or are recovering. Even the Right would have to agree he’s disproved all their slogans about earning a place in society; being formally educated, that the rich are the only ones who know how to rule; that the unemployed are lazy bludgers (the work, the effort!) … the slogans the man has disproved are endless.
The JK ads on mental illness would have you believe that those who have seen the worst are of a singular type, their conditions leading to a similar end state: docile, retiring, friendly, shell-shocked, something that’s needs a break and a helping hand. Don’t get me wrong, many do, just don’t think it’s the rule. People are people, regardless.
Bravo, Whalemind, you evil genius. Helping us break down stigmas and exposing the lies of our well-meaning beliefs even as you destroy our democracy.
I don’t believe any of that for a minute. If there is anyone with any real intelligence in that operation, it’s not Slater. You need to remember that he doesn’t even write most of the stuff. He just puts his name to it. And as far as the right would be concerned, Blubber Boy gained his place in their society by birth into a prominent NAct family.
Puddlegum clears the boundary rope – again..
http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/a-tale-of-two-tracks-part-i-a-two-track-world/
When the right start spreading outrageously funny “chinese” whispers among the legal fraternity about David Cunliffe’s private life, you know how VERY VERY SCARED of him they are!!! A friend of mine told me very very earnestly that she has an “impeccable source” who told her that rumours are swirling around the legal fraternity about David Cunliffe. I nearly burst out laughing – I’d believe that John Key was a rodent-swallowing alien before I would believe this latest serving of tripe – It’s got a very fishy smell, as everything whale usually does! THE RIGHT ARE GETTING REALLY DESPERATE AND SCARED!!! This makes me smile like a Cheshire Cat who swallowed the whole cow full of cream!!
Isn’t this a worry? I mean I am sure it is bullshit. But the sleeping General Public fall for this stuff
Look, you want nasty stuff from the legal fraternity? Finlayson. I’ve been passed lots of dirty info on him from lawyers in the past six years. Judicial appointments. Staff issues. Personal guff. Whoever wants to play dirty needs to know that if I know this stuff, someone less discerning about privacy knows this stuff. And it’s a free for all out there. National need to clean up and you don’t do that by flinging more shit.
Why is everybody posting here worrying about trivia?
There is only one significant item of news today.
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
Hawkes Bay has won the Ranfurly Shield!
All else pales into insignificance.
Come on The Bay!
Judith Collins – goodbye and good riddance. Here’s hoping the rest get kicked out next month.
Just a thought’ If Cameron manages to get a prosecution against people who illegally received and subsequently acted on his hacked e mails, doesn’t that now include John Key? -sacking Judith Collins on the basis of a ‘stolen’ e mail would have to be an offense, wouldn’t it?
Yep, and Slater has laid a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner against the PM. He says Key did not seek his permission to publicly release one of his emails.
Why is so much of Slater’s stuff on American Dating?
And on that basis is this email the 5/10 or the 10/5?
Silly question – but were have the trolls gone?? – Lynn did they realise were are smarter and nicer people – or get themselves banned?