Definitely shows his lack of understanding of MMP – got bored and stopped reading halfway through.
Did he say anything about the Epsom, hollow ACT party rort, undermining democracy – with one MP dictating some policy Nats never included in their election campaigns?
If the situation was reversed and there was a single monolithic party on the left that had 45% of the vote (after specials) and three smaller parties on the right that combined had nearly 50%, we’d be hearing none of this stuff:
– nothing about the largest party having a spurious ‘moral mandate’
– nothing about the smallest of those right wing parties being obliged to support the large left party to create ‘stable government’
– nothing about the supposed deficiencies of MMP
Not a dicky bird – there’d be total silence. Just lots of approving noises about how mature we are as a country, how well we’d adjusted to the principles of proportional representation and the idea that governments must constitute a majority. That we should take time to work the process through and that showed the strength of our democracy, etc. etc. John Roughan would be pulling out the flabbiest examples of his purple prose to say these things.
So although Garner is a vulgar clown, it’s not that he doesn’t understand MMP, it’s that he doesn’t like the result it has thrown up.
Yes. I’ve been thinking along the same lines these past few days AB.
In the event of a political reversal of electoral fortunes, the MSM would be pushing a totally different line such as:
“The will of the people has spoken and a significant majority are calling for change. There is no reason why a multi-party government cannot be strong and steady as has happened before in both National-led and Labour-led governments. Labour must concede their coalition govt with NZ First and C and S arrangement with the Greens between 1999 and 2008 was a success…….”
I can picture the NZ Herald using those exact words!
It’s interesting looking back to 2008 and the last Peters saga. I recalled a particularly vicious editorial from the Herald and tried to find it… links are dead all I could find was an article with quotes from it.
I won’t link to that, just copy & paste some of the Herald editorial;
” The departure of Winston Peters, a relief as it is, does not mean he is gone entirely from our political life. Thanks to MMP he needs only 5 per cent of the electorate – one voter in 20 – to give New Zealand First their party vote at the coming election and he would return to Parliament. …
After all that has been disclosed this year it seems unthinkable that anyone would still believe him worth their vote but he has had a following that seems impervious to political reasoning. They are older people mostly, on low fixed incomes, unsettled by social change and suspicious of minorities, migrants and trends they fear.
Mr Peters has exploited their fears and suspicions mercilessly, sometimes at the expense of minorities and careless of the damage done to this country’s standing in migrants’ homelands.
To supporting audiences Winston Peters liked to portray himself as lonely hero assailed on all sides by rich and powerful interests that he alone would expose and hold to account.
In recent weeks it is he who has been exposed as a recipient of money, a lot of money, from rich and powerful interests and he has resisted the sort of accountability he demands of others.
The National Party has written him out of the script for post election negotiations. Even if he summons enough support to survive, National’s John Key says he will not be acceptable in any ministry he might form. He has destroyed Mr Peters’ political leverage at a stroke.
Soon it will be up to his previous voters. Have they seen through him at last? Or have the disclosures of the past few months gone completely over their heads, merely reinforcing his heroic pose for them? Probably the latter. Ever susceptible to his rhetoric, grooming and charm, they might forgive him anything.
But he would return for nothing. The last of his credibility has disappeared. So should he.”
Now all the dust has settled on that Owen Glenn saga it’s quite disturbing to look back at the malice and vitriol that was emanating from the media. One thing I’m sure of is they won’t leave Peters alone, we’re in for a rough ride.
I remember that editorial. It was mind bogglingly vicious.
The Owen Glen saga is reminiscent of the David Cunliffe saga in 2014. Full of misrepresentations and outright lies. Owen Glenn was exposed as a liar about his past communications with Mike Williams. The MSM – in particular NZ Herald columnists – were exposed as liars about Cunliffe’s previous communications with the Liu character.
The media, like a pack of rabid wolves, pounce on their prey and proceed to tear them from limb to limb for no other reason than to indulge in a print version of mindless blood-sport.
I think it was Roughan wrote that editorial Anne, they tried to keep him anonymous back then but admitted at some point he’s been the Herald’s main editorial writer. It looks like his writing style and, lo & behold, here he is again in todays rag mouthing off with the same bile.
Whoever Peters runs with we can expect three years of the media constantly chasing Winston scandals and we don’t deserve that.
Of course the left made all these objections when they were on the other side of the divide..
Don’t you remember in 2005 when the lefties demanded that Labour stand down from Government as they had no moral right to govern?
After all, the opposition parties in the previous Parliament had gained a majority of the seats in the new Parliament.
Labour did what was required. Helen quit and, saying she had no legitimacy, refused to try and form a new Government with the help of the former opposition parties like New Zealand First.
Well perhaps you remember that.
I certainly don’t though.
I think I should have put “sarcasm” on this item.
The only thing I am objecting to is the attitude that says National do NOT have the right.
I am sure I can find comments about how Winston must go with Labour because the people “voted against the current Government” or such like.
And you are an idiot. There, I’m sure my opinion is at least as accurate as is yours.
You see the only person I have ever seen talking about having a “moral mandate” was Phil Twyford. He seems to have made the expression up and then tried to accuse Bill English of claiming it.
Phil is a very facile liar himself of course as he demonstrated when he talked about National “cutting” health spending. Frankly I don’t regard him as an honest authority on anything. Good example of a Labour MP of course.
It isn’t a tricky one at all.
They are using the same little fiddle as Twyford used.
They take as their starting year the 2009-2010 financial year. That was the first year for which National was responsible for the Budget.
They should have used the last year of the previous administration, for which Labour were responsible. That is the 2008-2009 year.
The 2009-2010 was an unusual one in that there was a massive, one-off boost in spending. That was mostly to try and fix the problems that Labour had left. There was in that year a real increase, after allowing for inflation and demographic changes, of about 6% from the last Labour year.
Twyford, and now the Doctors’ Union are setting it as being the “base” year of their calculations, rather than treating it as a one-off clean up year.
Have a look at Twyfords release from, I think BERL, and you will see the way the fiddle works.
OAB.
And as always the Labour party acolytes are starting with 2009-2010. If they are going to claim “Labour good, National bad”, why don’t they look at what the Labour Party did in their last year?
Meanwhile, in the paper I linked, Figure 1 starts at 1950. Figure 2 starts in 2000. I suggest you examine Figure 2: “Health” is the thick blue line that is trending down.
OAB @7.29pm.
I find it very hard to determine anything about the way the Health spending is going from that figure 2.
The numbers are cumulative for the year and health is only the difference between 2 lines. About the only thing that is clear from that graph is that the total Government expenditure as a percentage of GDP fell from about 2011 onwards. The individual parts are almost impossible to discern from that graph though. After all it isn’t the fall in the top of the Health segment that matters. It is the difference from the top of the Education Sector to the top of the Health sector. I would suggest that the steepness of the Health line from 2008 to 2009 is greater than the line for Education below it, which implies that the Health Sector was growing between those years.
An honest presentation, talking about Health would, at the very least, put the health segment at the bottom of the graph so its level was obvious.
That isn’t what they want of course.
By the way Twyford’s material was done by Infometrics, not BERL.
Shame really. They used to be very good.
Youre a useful tool al – bill english the leader of the gnats admitted lying by omission re todd barclay and you worship him. And when someone points that out you call them names. Weak effort by you indeed – typical gnat.
The Winston Peters show always reminds me of the old saying about glass houses. Most of the media angst is petulant dummy spitting from overinflated egos, they’re hardly in a position to pass judgement on Peters.
For years, mainstream media outlets have been doing their opinion polLls. Very often the journos authoritatively conclude that NZF will be King maker. Now that the election has delivered this, no MSM journos have anything to say about what an NZF-Nat government might look like.
It’s not as if they didn’t have some time to ponder on it….?
Garner lashes out at Peters; others are contemplating the plausibility of a Nat-GP coalition…. but, who is looking at the actual likely outcome of NZF-Nats?
I’m betting greens will jump at national offer.
I would be happy. They would be less radical than nzf and also the kiwi public would enjoy have strong financial management by national and the soft caring edge of the greens.
I think the public should open their minds.
If done well we could see a 3 or 4 term national green government….that would be amazing for our country
Time for people to open their minds
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: Clearly you didn’t read the post – which covered those points in detail. I regard commenting without referencing the post as simple trolling. Banned for 4 weeks. ]
Its not so much a question about the greens entering a coalition., its just not any coalition. The question is much more whether National is ready to change its slash and burn policies, water issues, health system failure, the catastrophic hosing situation etc. These are after all policies pursued by the greens. The laissez fair party would have to make some fundamental changes – are they actual ready for that? I have my doubts. I hope that the greens are a party of principles.
It is dreadful a result of abdication of state or collective responsibility for our children. Some individuals do great things. I know of a group of librarians in South Auckland providing out of their own money bread and spreads for the hungry children who hung out in their library in the holidays. There are teachers who give children their own food. There are charities like feed the need and kids can. There is no will from government to have a systematic approach to solve the problem. As a country we deserve that rating.
The methodology for obtaining the final score in the Index is such that extremely poor performances in one domain cannot be compensated by higher scores in other areas, as all children’s rights are equally important. Extreme underperformance in one of the domains therefore creates an insurmountable bottleneck that automatically demotes the concerned country to the lower-most region of the Index
In other words, the total score is the lowest score. It takes no account of the other areas.
New Zealand’s scores for non-discrimination and budget fell from an average to the lowest score, but itsscores remain incomplete – there was no score for state-civil society cooperation in either 2011 or 2016.
It was a MSM piece on our Womens Rugby team to jog my thoughts that my writing could cause problems for our uninformed police and we could not have that because I never harm another unless it is self defence there are a lot of good people in our police force. There is a lot of good people in NZ to .
It would be awesome when our women’s Rugby team get to host there World Cup
In our beautiful country with our clear skys we see the star every clear night you can hear the birds chirping its not perfect and we will improve it Come on Steve Tu back our ladys and get the Cup hosted here we need all the good publicity we can get.
P.S ladys and Joseph Parker’s team get a good publishes as I have seen someone go from O to hero with a good Publishes as this is the way the world work’s
Ka Pai
One of the dudes that helped create the myth that tax cuts (at the top rates) create growth and pay for themselves looks back out how it worked out. Short answer: not how the sales pitch said it would.
I thought it was accepted theory that tax cuts to high end in economic crises takes money out of the economy either by debt pay down or hols overseas? That if you want to stimulate an economy you give cuts at the lower end?
The following is also the ilusion/delusion thst Nats campaign on and peole buy….
” but the prosperity of the ’80s is overrated in the Republican mind. In fact, aggregate real gross domestic product growth was higher in the ’70s — 37.2 percent vs. 35.9 percent…..
The flip-side of tax cut mythology is the notion that tax increases are an economic disaster — the reason, in theory, every Republican in Congress voted against the tax increase proposed by Bill Clinton in 1993. Yet the 1990s was the most prosperous decade in recent memory. At 37.3 percent, aggregate real GDP growth in the 1990s exceeded that in the 1980s.
“
That if you want to stimulate an economy you give cuts at the lower end?
Tax cuts to the lower end are just higher income for the top end (The lower end spend all their money and the top end are in a place to grab it all) and still don’t produce better economic outcomes.
There’s probably a point where tax rates become excessive for the rich but we haven’t reached it yet. Even at 95%.
On the other hand, we have had tax rates too high for the lower end causing poverty and hardship. It’s why progressive income taxes that are proportional were brought in.
“This Way Up” after 12 O’Clock on Radio NZ has a piece on rising atmospheric CO2 impacting on the nutritional levels of food. I’m wondering if they will cover the recent study by the US DofA that found goldenrod (a crucial food source for N American bees) has lost 30% of its nutritional content since the 1840s and make the obvious connections….
Should I add the aside that Tanya Carlson commented on sheep wool being degraded when compared to wool of the 70s? (Point being – not the one she made – that nutritional deficiency likely shows up in coat/skin quality, yes?)
there’s probably some overlap with degradation of soil causing less nutrients in foods too. Would be interested to see the science on both of those and if they can separate them out. Plenty of other good reasons to stop fucking with the soil, but that it would be useful if increasing soil health mitigated the CC effect (so long as we actually take action to limit CC).
The original observation (increased growth rates and dropping nutritional content) was first observed in a marine environment. Basically, oceanic algae was given a surplus of light to boost growth with the thought being that zoo-plankton would flourish in a food rich environment. But that didn’t happen. The zoo-plankton began to struggle because it was malnourished.
For oceanic algae, think plants and for zoo-plankton, think pollinators (or other organisms further up the food chain if you want).
This doesn’t end well and ends quite abruptly and devastatingly if there is a level of CO2 above which pollinators starve rather than “merely” suffer from malnutrition.
(Goldenrod grows in soil that’s never been messed with btw, suggesting that regen ag, heirloom seeds etc won’t halt or reverse any decline due to elevated CO2 levels)
Imagine a world with no seeds and no fruits bar those resulting from wind blown pollination? If there’s a CO2 “guard-rail” or “tipping point” for pollinator survival, then we’d only need to exceed it for a few months or a single growing season….
I was talking with a marine biologist friend and his gallows humour suggested that Trump might tear down the wall and issue Mexicans with brushes and set them to hand pollinating the ‘wheat prairies’ of the USA.
edit – and he’s going to give me a shout if he comes across any marine experiment that takes sea water back to pre-industrial CO2 levels and measures algae nutritional content in that environment. (It’s far easier to run an experiment in an aquarium than it is to run one in fields and the results from an oceanic environment could probably be taken as running somewhat in tandem with terrestrial ones.)
At worst he doesn’t understand MMP at all……..at best he understands MMP but only selectively. Which really is more egregious than being just stupidly unaware.
Garner demonstrates four things: firstly he disrespects the nation’s democratically registered preference for MMP all those years ago; secondly deep down he’s a Tory; thirdly he has a personal axe to grind because Winston always whips his fat ass; fourthly hubris propels him to engage quite unashamedly off-the-planet bullshit to rival Alex Jones.
No MMP election can be finally resolved when election night seat spread doesn’t include the cast of 300,000 plus votes, That is particularly so when history shows that this dynamic can result in the loss/gain of seats.
What sort of self-respecting political commentator carpingly demands a settled coalition when votes in that order are not accounted for ?…….,.yes Dunky, those pesky things called peoples’ votes, I know……..the political commentator who reflects 1-4 above.
STFU Dunky. Patently you’re not ‘Da Man’ your vaingloriousness says you are. You define the cheap right-leaning polemicist actually. Like so many of your cohorts.
Garner calling anyone a megalomaniac ? Phew ! That’s rich. You’ve not changed a bit since I witnessed you at McDonalds Wellsford early one morning some years ago. Strutty and ‘loudy’…….’look at ME look at ME common rabble’
@ North
The interesting thing about this article is that if NZF had got 4.9% (just 2.1 less than their likely final 7%) the Nats would probably have been able to govern alone and people like Garner would have been yelling from the rooftops “fantastic result for National, democracy has been served.”
He would, of course, immediately forget all about the lies and leaks that lead to that result.
Boards of businesses smaller than the NZ Govt take weeks, months and sometimes years to negoiate a partner for lesser ventures. Why would we want out Governance rushed?
Perhaps our journalists have forgotten how to write about anything else and know they will have to for a few weeks.
I havent read the piece does he pile scorn on Merkel too?
I thought he was spending more time fathering tgese days?
Question please, if anyone can help ? With our caretaker govt in place, could Blinglish sign us on to TPPA during this period, as it was actively ‘in process’ prior to election ?
Many thanks .. I have nightmares about this 🙂
Congrats to anyone going to see London Grammar tonight even if it it is the Vector arena. Pretty damn awesome…
I’d have done something rare and organised tickets if I’d realised that they were coming here. They have been on my playlist pretty continuously for the last couple of months. Very nice music.
But I had my nose buried in the blog during the election, and there isn’t that much cash left over after paying two mortgages. Hadn’t budgeted for concert tickets. *sigh*
This looks like a fan video + the released track for Non Beliver.
And a BBC live version
Interesting. The jetpack youtube linkages are not working.
Also, although the prevailing evidence shows a decline in reproductive health, not all studies show this; there are some geographical differences. It will be critical to determine what the key differences between geographical regions are – such as genetic differences and exposure to specific pollutants – so we can then examine treatment strategies to limit these negative effects.
So, what are the probable causes of Western men in industrialised nations losing their fertility?
All but one (looking at you, Helensville) of Auckland’s electorates have a proportion of residents who were born overseas that’s higher than the New Zealand average of 23.6% – often much higher. And many of them went National’s way. East Coast Bays, where 47.4% of residents were born overseas, gave 63% of its vote to National. New Lynn, where 42.7% were born overseas, put National over Labour by eight points. Pakuranga, with a 44.1% foreign-born population, went 62.9% for National. Te Atatū, where 34.3% of residents were born overseas – and where Phil Twyford was a candidate – went narrowly for National, 43.3% to 41.9%.
And this isn’t to mention other National strongholds with high foreign-born numbers, such as Botany, Epsom, North Shore, or Upper Harbour.
So, has National been importing its voters?
Oh, and it really does look like Phil Twyford has been vindicated.
While you are about it why don’t you enlighten us on what happened in the various Labour strongholds like the Mangere area.
On the other hand don’t bother. For all anyone knows nearly every foreign born voter might have been cast for Labour or the Greens.
There. Let’s see you prove me wrong
You do realise that the Green Party seems to be importing their MPs, rather than their voters? If, as many commenters on this blog seem to assume, they get another MP after the specials that will mean that 25% of their MPs will have been born overseas. That is higher than the New Zealand average.
The Green Party also seem to get more of their votes from people who don’t even live in New Zealand than any other party. Look at what seems to happen with the allocation of votes cast overseas each election. Why do we allow people who are long term overseas residents from voting here anyway?
Don’t be cute, Alwyn – you know perfectly well that the country of origin of voters in Mangere is not the same as those resident in East Coast Bays. At least, if you don’t you need to get out more!
Of course the “country of origin of voters in Mangere is not the same”
So what are you saying about the Labour Party policy? Are you implying that they are racist bigots who will only allow immigrants into New Zealand if they are from races who are likely to vote Labour?
The Labour Party policies don’t publicly admit that they regard some races as being superior to others but you seem to think they should.
I have said nothing at all about Labour Party immigration policy – it’s you who’s wittering on about it. I merely pointed out that immigrants from different cultures and countries have different ideas and beliefs
Yes that’s right, before the Green Party existed those who hadn’t quite conceived of its existence realised that a refugee from Iran would be essential (you know, for something) so they imported an eight year old girl.
Coming over from Australia for a weekend to attend a wedding counts as still retaining the right to vote I believe. I lived in Australia for more than five years and was always qualified to vote. I didn’t vote in 1993 though as I didn’t think I should be eligible.
I would also be surprised if it was ever checked.
As far as non-citizens go I wouldn’t allow anyone who isn’t a citizen from voting at all. It should be a privilege for New Zealand citizens only.
As far as non-citizens go I wouldn’t allow anyone who isn’t a citizen from voting at all. It should be a privilege for New Zealand citizens only.
I’d agree with that.
A lot of those north-eastern people who can vote keep their citizenship for that foreign country because it doesn’t allow dual citizenship but they still get to vote in NZ if they’re residents.
On election night at the National party headquarters when English was arriving, the TV cameras panned across the crowd gathered to congratulate him, in the front rows were mostly non NZ decent supporters, which made a quite a large proportion of the crowd, so “YES”, immigration is a good for National, that s why they keep it going.
Many of the immigrants come from very conservative countries, with no, or few social services and safety net.
Please tell me that this is only a typo.
“non NZ decent supporters”. I would really be disappointed if you were someone who doesn’t think that anyone who doesn’t follow you own political leanings was somehow not “decent”.
I assume it’s supposed to be ‘descent’ but even that’s an issue. Many people in NZ who are NZ citizens have descended from other than white European or Māori.
You really cannot tell who is or is not a NZ citizen by looking at them.
Probably but what sort of policy structure would we be looking at?
Would National suddenly start backing trains?
Would they can immigration or NZ1st go for increased immigration?
Renationalise a whole heap of stuff that NZ1st wants renationalised?
Etc, etc.
I certainly can’t see possible policy structure that would suit as their policy structures are too different.
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Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Hassan Vally, La Trobe UniversityWho doesn’t want to know if drinking that second or third cup of coffee a day will improve your memory, or if sleeping too much increases your risk of a heart attack? We’re invested in staying healthy and many of us are interested in reading ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Two secondary-school initiatives are being expanded as part of the Government’s plan to see more young New Zealanders take up a trade to help close the skills gap. This includes the largest single increase in Trades Academy places in recent years. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
Botany is an electorate that deserves a representative who is committed to their community which is the reason New Conservative has confirmed Elliot Ikilei as the candidate for the 2020 election. ...
Anyone who would like to submit an account of their experience of state care to the Māori Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki has 10 days left before submissions close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Shaw, Conservation Biologist, The University of Queensland This year, five of the seven Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were awarded to women. While this is a welcome development, the great majority of awards and prizes for science, technology, engineering and mathematics ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison seized the opportunity of his Jakarta weekend visit for Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s inauguration to obtain a meeting with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan. Morrison told a news conference he had come out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon O’Connor, Associate Professor in American Politics at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney During the 2016 US presidential campaign, people around the world were regularly reassured by election experts that Donald Trump was too outrageous to be elected president. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Leask, Professor, University of Sydney Your neighbour is telling you about his new baby. He feels nervous about vaccinating, and says he’s considering delaying Lucy’s vaccines. Your mother’s group is chatting about vaccines. One mother tells the group Jimmy isn’t vaccinated, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Associate Director – City Futures – Urban Policy and Strategy, City Futures Research Centre, Housing Policy and Practice, UNSW Low-income tenants in Australia are increasingly likely to be trapped in rental stress for years. New evidence from the Productivity Commission ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland In line with his usual practice, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed Donald Trump over the World Trade Organisation, criticising of China’s status in it as a “developing country”. Critics of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristal Spreadborough, Casual Academic, University of New England As the Australian premier season of The Masked Singer draws to a close, fans are listening hard to guess which celebrities remain behind the weird and wonderful costumes. Although the celebrities throw listeners a ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ First holds crucial party conference, roving AOS trial sparks concerns, and Mediaworks facing dramatic days ahead.The most pivotal political party in the country right now has held their annual conference, a year out from what will be a make ...
Five experts, all from countries with varying levels of cannabis legality, came to Auckland to speak on the benefits and costs of the drug before New Zealand’s cannabis referendum in 2020. Alice Webb-Liddall reports.While New Zealanders wait for the cannabis referendum in 2020, the government is working hard to draft ...
Protesting has brought about enormous social change in NZ. Will transformational groups emerge from the climate and Ihumātao protests? Trevor Richards hopes so. ...
Dr Olivier Jutel goes deep on blockchain, explaining why we should be cognisant of sweeping ideological claims masquerading as the technology of truth. ...
A psychiatric doctor who helps suicidal teenagers says the Ministry of Health’s suicide reduction plans miss much of the wider issue. We need to listen to affected communities, and equip them to make the changes they need, he writes.Last week, as I left yet another 3am crisis interview in ED ...
Highly trained, armed police are a necessary tool in emergency situations, but roving teams eager to find work could be a recipe for disaster, writes investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel for RNZ. Police announced yesterday they are to introduce a trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Auckland, Waikato ...
“Proposals to curb environmental damage help our coasts and the oceans Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. We at CEAC also ...
David Robie, concluding his three-part series about Iran, profiles an extraordinary pair of Tehran brothers who have been pioneering global research adventurers. They have been dubbed the “Persian Indiana Joneses”. Their adventures are fabled and hair-raising, as shown by a Jivaro shrunken human head and relics from curious rituals ...
Four months ago Caroline Shaw bought an e-bike. She explains why they’re the answer to our lethal car culture.Four months ago we took what felt like a huge leap of faith and bought an e-cargo bike. The combination of three things tipped us over the edge: feeling the need to ...
The online magazine that boasted a bigger Instagram following than most New Zealand media has abruptly come to an end. So what was Auckland Mag? Why did it exist? And who was it mysterious founder Dan Rolph? David Farrier investigates. The reply from Dan Rolph at Auckland Magazine came quickly. It came ...
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Winston Peters says his party is a handbrake on bad ideas and a "supercharged turbo" for good ones - but will it be in the driver's seat come 2020? ...
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Open Mike 30/09/2017 
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Duncan Garner having a lash at Winston in Stuff. Shows his vitriol and “born to rule ” mentality.
Also shows his lack of understanding/respect for MMP.
So I sent him a message via facebook. He is a Nat mouthpiece.
Definitely shows his lack of understanding of MMP – got bored and stopped reading halfway through.
Did he say anything about the Epsom, hollow ACT party rort, undermining democracy – with one MP dictating some policy Nats never included in their election campaigns?
+100
If the situation was reversed and there was a single monolithic party on the left that had 45% of the vote (after specials) and three smaller parties on the right that combined had nearly 50%, we’d be hearing none of this stuff:
– nothing about the largest party having a spurious ‘moral mandate’
– nothing about the smallest of those right wing parties being obliged to support the large left party to create ‘stable government’
– nothing about the supposed deficiencies of MMP
Not a dicky bird – there’d be total silence. Just lots of approving noises about how mature we are as a country, how well we’d adjusted to the principles of proportional representation and the idea that governments must constitute a majority. That we should take time to work the process through and that showed the strength of our democracy, etc. etc. John Roughan would be pulling out the flabbiest examples of his purple prose to say these things.
So although Garner is a vulgar clown, it’s not that he doesn’t understand MMP, it’s that he doesn’t like the result it has thrown up.
Yes. I’ve been thinking along the same lines these past few days AB.
In the event of a political reversal of electoral fortunes, the MSM would be pushing a totally different line such as:
“The will of the people has spoken and a significant majority are calling for change. There is no reason why a multi-party government cannot be strong and steady as has happened before in both National-led and Labour-led governments. Labour must concede their coalition govt with NZ First and C and S arrangement with the Greens between 1999 and 2008 was a success…….”
I can picture the NZ Herald using those exact words!
It’s interesting looking back to 2008 and the last Peters saga. I recalled a particularly vicious editorial from the Herald and tried to find it… links are dead all I could find was an article with quotes from it.
I won’t link to that, just copy & paste some of the Herald editorial;
” The departure of Winston Peters, a relief as it is, does not mean he is gone entirely from our political life. Thanks to MMP he needs only 5 per cent of the electorate – one voter in 20 – to give New Zealand First their party vote at the coming election and he would return to Parliament. …
After all that has been disclosed this year it seems unthinkable that anyone would still believe him worth their vote but he has had a following that seems impervious to political reasoning. They are older people mostly, on low fixed incomes, unsettled by social change and suspicious of minorities, migrants and trends they fear.
Mr Peters has exploited their fears and suspicions mercilessly, sometimes at the expense of minorities and careless of the damage done to this country’s standing in migrants’ homelands.
To supporting audiences Winston Peters liked to portray himself as lonely hero assailed on all sides by rich and powerful interests that he alone would expose and hold to account.
In recent weeks it is he who has been exposed as a recipient of money, a lot of money, from rich and powerful interests and he has resisted the sort of accountability he demands of others.
The National Party has written him out of the script for post election negotiations. Even if he summons enough support to survive, National’s John Key says he will not be acceptable in any ministry he might form. He has destroyed Mr Peters’ political leverage at a stroke.
Soon it will be up to his previous voters. Have they seen through him at last? Or have the disclosures of the past few months gone completely over their heads, merely reinforcing his heroic pose for them? Probably the latter. Ever susceptible to his rhetoric, grooming and charm, they might forgive him anything.
But he would return for nothing. The last of his credibility has disappeared. So should he.”
Now all the dust has settled on that Owen Glenn saga it’s quite disturbing to look back at the malice and vitriol that was emanating from the media. One thing I’m sure of is they won’t leave Peters alone, we’re in for a rough ride.
I remember that editorial. It was mind bogglingly vicious.
The Owen Glen saga is reminiscent of the David Cunliffe saga in 2014. Full of misrepresentations and outright lies. Owen Glenn was exposed as a liar about his past communications with Mike Williams. The MSM – in particular NZ Herald columnists – were exposed as liars about Cunliffe’s previous communications with the Liu character.
The media, like a pack of rabid wolves, pounce on their prey and proceed to tear them from limb to limb for no other reason than to indulge in a print version of mindless blood-sport.
I think it was Roughan wrote that editorial Anne, they tried to keep him anonymous back then but admitted at some point he’s been the Herald’s main editorial writer. It looks like his writing style and, lo & behold, here he is again in todays rag mouthing off with the same bile.
Whoever Peters runs with we can expect three years of the media constantly chasing Winston scandals and we don’t deserve that.
Whoever Peters runs with we can expect three years of the media constantly chasing Winston scandals and we don’t deserve that.
Not if he coalesces with National. Unless or until he falls out with them over something then they will turn on him.
Of course the left made all these objections when they were on the other side of the divide..
Don’t you remember in 2005 when the lefties demanded that Labour stand down from Government as they had no moral right to govern?
After all, the opposition parties in the previous Parliament had gained a majority of the seats in the new Parliament.
Labour did what was required. Helen quit and, saying she had no legitimacy, refused to try and form a new Government with the help of the former opposition parties like New Zealand First.
Well perhaps you remember that.
I certainly don’t though.
alwyn, no-one’s saying that the Nats don’t have the right to try to form a government – just that they’re not the only ones with that right.
Once again tilting at Windmills, me old Walrus
I think I should have put “sarcasm” on this item.
The only thing I am objecting to is the attitude that says National do NOT have the right.
I am sure I can find comments about how Winston must go with Labour because the people “voted against the current Government” or such like.
Maybe if they quit with all this ‘moral majority’ shit they would get a little more respect.
I am honestly not sure who you are referring to when you say “they would get a little more respect”.
Who is the “they” that you are referring to?
National Party members are liars, and con-artists who have no credibility with civil minded people.
And you are an idiot. There, I’m sure my opinion is at least as accurate as is yours.
You see the only person I have ever seen talking about having a “moral mandate” was Phil Twyford. He seems to have made the expression up and then tried to accuse Bill English of claiming it.
Phil is a very facile liar himself of course as he demonstrated when he talked about National “cutting” health spending. Frankly I don’t regard him as an honest authority on anything. Good example of a Labour MP of course.
Who to believe?
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, or the National Party?
That’s a tricky one. If only one of those organisations had a track record of telling lies…
It isn’t a tricky one at all.
They are using the same little fiddle as Twyford used.
They take as their starting year the 2009-2010 financial year. That was the first year for which National was responsible for the Budget.
They should have used the last year of the previous administration, for which Labour were responsible. That is the 2008-2009 year.
The 2009-2010 was an unusual one in that there was a massive, one-off boost in spending. That was mostly to try and fix the problems that Labour had left. There was in that year a real increase, after allowing for inflation and demographic changes, of about 6% from the last Labour year.
Twyford, and now the Doctors’ Union are setting it as being the “base” year of their calculations, rather than treating it as a one-off clean up year.
Have a look at Twyfords release from, I think BERL, and you will see the way the fiddle works.
Yeah yeah, everyone’s lying except the National Party
I’m happy to leave it there: you believe what National tells you without question. If I need your opinion I can ask Steven Joyce.
OAB.
And as always the Labour party acolytes are starting with 2009-2010. If they are going to claim “Labour good, National bad”, why don’t they look at what the Labour Party did in their last year?
Meanwhile, in the paper I linked, Figure 1 starts at 1950. Figure 2 starts in 2000. I suggest you examine Figure 2: “Health” is the thick blue line that is trending down.
OAB @7.29pm.
I find it very hard to determine anything about the way the Health spending is going from that figure 2.
The numbers are cumulative for the year and health is only the difference between 2 lines. About the only thing that is clear from that graph is that the total Government expenditure as a percentage of GDP fell from about 2011 onwards. The individual parts are almost impossible to discern from that graph though. After all it isn’t the fall in the top of the Health segment that matters. It is the difference from the top of the Education Sector to the top of the Health sector. I would suggest that the steepness of the Health line from 2008 to 2009 is greater than the line for Education below it, which implies that the Health Sector was growing between those years.
An honest presentation, talking about Health would, at the very least, put the health segment at the bottom of the graph so its level was obvious.
That isn’t what they want of course.
By the way Twyford’s material was done by Infometrics, not BERL.
Shame really. They used to be very good.
Youre a useful tool al – bill english the leader of the gnats admitted lying by omission re todd barclay and you worship him. And when someone points that out you call them names. Weak effort by you indeed – typical gnat.
The Winston Peters show always reminds me of the old saying about glass houses. Most of the media angst is petulant dummy spitting from overinflated egos, they’re hardly in a position to pass judgement on Peters.
For years, mainstream media outlets have been doing their opinion polLls. Very often the journos authoritatively conclude that NZF will be King maker. Now that the election has delivered this, no MSM journos have anything to say about what an NZF-Nat government might look like.
It’s not as if they didn’t have some time to ponder on it….?
Garner lashes out at Peters; others are contemplating the plausibility of a Nat-GP coalition…. but, who is looking at the actual likely outcome of NZF-Nats?
The guy still doesn’t understand MMP, he really is thick ?
I’m betting greens will jump at national offer.
I would be happy. They would be less radical than nzf and also the kiwi public would enjoy have strong financial management by national and the soft caring edge of the greens.
I think the public should open their minds.
If done well we could see a 3 or 4 term national green government….that would be amazing for our country
Time for people to open their minds
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: Clearly you didn’t read the post – which covered those points in detail. I regard commenting without referencing the post as simple trolling. Banned for 4 weeks. ]
Good god Upnorth, you just don’t get it do you ?
I’m betting…
A fool and his money are easily parted. What does that say about the Greens? Nothing at all.
For reals Upnorth? Keen to do a wager on it, a self imposed ban? I’m up for it, just let me know.
Its not so much a question about the greens entering a coalition., its just not any coalition. The question is much more whether National is ready to change its slash and burn policies, water issues, health system failure, the catastrophic hosing situation etc. These are after all policies pursued by the greens. The laissez fair party would have to make some fundamental changes – are they actual ready for that? I have my doubts. I hope that the greens are a party of principles.
fundamental changes
For example, surgeons would have to figure out how to perform an amygdalectomy.
In a word !!! PRINCEPLES, is what separates the Greens from National, and it’s pretty clear which one has them and which one doesn’t.
Has anyone read this report about NZ plummetting to 156th in the world on our treatment of children?
I am not a stats/methodology person so wondered if those who have read it have thoughts on how it was measured?
https://e2nz.org/2017/05/17/worst-places-to-be-a-child-nz-ranked-158-out-of-165-for-childhood-rights/
It is dreadful a result of abdication of state or collective responsibility for our children. Some individuals do great things. I know of a group of librarians in South Auckland providing out of their own money bread and spreads for the hungry children who hung out in their library in the holidays. There are teachers who give children their own food. There are charities like feed the need and kids can. There is no will from government to have a systematic approach to solve the problem. As a country we deserve that rating.
In other words, the total score is the lowest score. It takes no account of the other areas.
And it’s data is incomplete anyway.
So, not worth the time to read it.
Thanks. I confess I didnt know what they meant about high scores and low scores etc
Not a lie after all. Joyce’s missing hole finally found.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11928008
Hehehe
Saturday funny….
I saw this clickbait on facebook about industrial diarrhoea, had to have a look
https://www.wimp.com/the-moment-these-people-knew-they-were-going-to-quit-their-jobs/8/?utm_source=fba&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=vito/
#8….
It was a MSM piece on our Womens Rugby team to jog my thoughts that my writing could cause problems for our uninformed police and we could not have that because I never harm another unless it is self defence there are a lot of good people in our police force. There is a lot of good people in NZ to .
It would be awesome when our women’s Rugby team get to host there World Cup
In our beautiful country with our clear skys we see the star every clear night you can hear the birds chirping its not perfect and we will improve it Come on Steve Tu back our ladys and get the Cup hosted here we need all the good publicity we can get.
P.S ladys and Joseph Parker’s team get a good publishes as I have seen someone go from O to hero with a good Publishes as this is the way the world work’s
Ka Pai
One of the dudes that helped create the myth that tax cuts (at the top rates) create growth and pay for themselves looks back out how it worked out. Short answer: not how the sales pitch said it would.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/28/i-helped-create-the-gop-tax-myth-trump-is-wrong-tax-cuts-dont-equal-growth/?tid=ss_tw-bottom&utm_term=.fb9a7b5e91bb
I thought it was accepted theory that tax cuts to high end in economic crises takes money out of the economy either by debt pay down or hols overseas? That if you want to stimulate an economy you give cuts at the lower end?
The following is also the ilusion/delusion thst Nats campaign on and peole buy….
” but the prosperity of the ’80s is overrated in the Republican mind. In fact, aggregate real gross domestic product growth was higher in the ’70s — 37.2 percent vs. 35.9 percent…..
The flip-side of tax cut mythology is the notion that tax increases are an economic disaster — the reason, in theory, every Republican in Congress voted against the tax increase proposed by Bill Clinton in 1993. Yet the 1990s was the most prosperous decade in recent memory. At 37.3 percent, aggregate real GDP growth in the 1990s exceeded that in the 1980s.
“
Tax cuts to the lower end are just higher income for the top end (The lower end spend all their money and the top end are in a place to grab it all) and still don’t produce better economic outcomes.
There’s probably a point where tax rates become excessive for the rich but we haven’t reached it yet. Even at 95%.
On the other hand, we have had tax rates too high for the lower end causing poverty and hardship. It’s why progressive income taxes that are proportional were brought in.
“This Way Up” after 12 O’Clock on Radio NZ has a piece on rising atmospheric CO2 impacting on the nutritional levels of food. I’m wondering if they will cover the recent study by the US DofA that found goldenrod (a crucial food source for N American bees) has lost 30% of its nutritional content since the 1840s and make the obvious connections….
Should I add the aside that Tanya Carlson commented on sheep wool being degraded when compared to wool of the 70s? (Point being – not the one she made – that nutritional deficiency likely shows up in coat/skin quality, yes?)
But, but, all that extra carbon makes plants grow bigger and greener!!!
there’s probably some overlap with degradation of soil causing less nutrients in foods too. Would be interested to see the science on both of those and if they can separate them out. Plenty of other good reasons to stop fucking with the soil, but that it would be useful if increasing soil health mitigated the CC effect (so long as we actually take action to limit CC).
The original observation (increased growth rates and dropping nutritional content) was first observed in a marine environment. Basically, oceanic algae was given a surplus of light to boost growth with the thought being that zoo-plankton would flourish in a food rich environment. But that didn’t happen. The zoo-plankton began to struggle because it was malnourished.
For oceanic algae, think plants and for zoo-plankton, think pollinators (or other organisms further up the food chain if you want).
This doesn’t end well and ends quite abruptly and devastatingly if there is a level of CO2 above which pollinators starve rather than “merely” suffer from malnutrition.
(Goldenrod grows in soil that’s never been messed with btw, suggesting that regen ag, heirloom seeds etc won’t halt or reverse any decline due to elevated CO2 levels)
Imagine a world with no seeds and no fruits bar those resulting from wind blown pollination? If there’s a CO2 “guard-rail” or “tipping point” for pollinator survival, then we’d only need to exceed it for a few months or a single growing season….
I was talking with a marine biologist friend and his gallows humour suggested that Trump might tear down the wall and issue Mexicans with brushes and set them to hand pollinating the ‘wheat prairies’ of the USA.
edit – and he’s going to give me a shout if he comes across any marine experiment that takes sea water back to pre-industrial CO2 levels and measures algae nutritional content in that environment. (It’s far easier to run an experiment in an aquarium than it is to run one in fields and the results from an oceanic environment could probably be taken as running somewhat in tandem with terrestrial ones.)
Thanks for this comment Bill. I do learn shitloads of stuff put here
Same. Thanks.
How embarrassing for whiney schoolboy Garner.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/97391717/duncan-garner-the-megalomaniac-reigns-all-over-nationals-parade
At worst he doesn’t understand MMP at all……..at best he understands MMP but only selectively. Which really is more egregious than being just stupidly unaware.
Garner demonstrates four things: firstly he disrespects the nation’s democratically registered preference for MMP all those years ago; secondly deep down he’s a Tory; thirdly he has a personal axe to grind because Winston always whips his fat ass; fourthly hubris propels him to engage quite unashamedly off-the-planet bullshit to rival Alex Jones.
No MMP election can be finally resolved when election night seat spread doesn’t include the cast of 300,000 plus votes, That is particularly so when history shows that this dynamic can result in the loss/gain of seats.
What sort of self-respecting political commentator carpingly demands a settled coalition when votes in that order are not accounted for ?…….,.yes Dunky, those pesky things called peoples’ votes, I know……..the political commentator who reflects 1-4 above.
STFU Dunky. Patently you’re not ‘Da Man’ your vaingloriousness says you are. You define the cheap right-leaning polemicist actually. Like so many of your cohorts.
Garner calling anyone a megalomaniac ? Phew ! That’s rich. You’ve not changed a bit since I witnessed you at McDonalds Wellsford early one morning some years ago. Strutty and ‘loudy’…….’look at ME look at ME common rabble’
@ North
The interesting thing about this article is that if NZF had got 4.9% (just 2.1 less than their likely final 7%) the Nats would probably have been able to govern alone and people like Garner would have been yelling from the rooftops “fantastic result for National, democracy has been served.”
He would, of course, immediately forget all about the lies and leaks that lead to that result.
Boards of businesses smaller than the NZ Govt take weeks, months and sometimes years to negoiate a partner for lesser ventures. Why would we want out Governance rushed?
Perhaps our journalists have forgotten how to write about anything else and know they will have to for a few weeks.
I havent read the piece does he pile scorn on Merkel too?
I thought he was spending more time fathering tgese days?
Hi weka,
I’ve sent you a message with a Guest Post for The Standard and I hope you’ll have time to read & put it up.
Some food for thought
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/09/28/50736/what-if-winston-bill-or-jacinda-cant-go-on
Andrew Geddis on why the wait for Special Votes – it’s the law!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/340568/special-votes-why-the-wait
Oh the law! Pah! 😉 The media dont research so wouldnt know this… and therefore most us dont know.
A nice wee blog (with links) about the need for imagination and critical thinking to go beyond capitalism: https://sciblogs.co.nz/ariadne/2017/09/24/thinking-beyond-capitalism/
Question please, if anyone can help ? With our caretaker govt in place, could Blinglish sign us on to TPPA during this period, as it was actively ‘in process’ prior to election ?
Many thanks .. I have nightmares about this 🙂
In theory – yes. In practice – no. Not as a caretaker government.
Thanks lprent .. some comfort in your reply 🙂
The GG ought not sign it off in the current circumstances?
Congrats to anyone going to see London Grammar tonight even if it it is the Vector arena. Pretty damn awesome…
I’d have done something rare and organised tickets if I’d realised that they were coming here. They have been on my playlist pretty continuously for the last couple of months. Very nice music.
But I had my nose buried in the blog during the election, and there isn’t that much cash left over after paying two mortgages. Hadn’t budgeted for concert tickets. *sigh*
This looks like a fan video + the released track for Non Beliver.
And a BBC live version
Interesting. The jetpack youtube linkages are not working.
Most men in the US and Europe could be infertile by 2060
So, what are the probable causes of Western men in industrialised nations losing their fertility?
psudo estrogens …. ie environmental pollutants that act like estrogens
http://www.psr.org/chapters/boston/resources/environmental-chemicals-and-estrogens.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen
How did Labour’s immigration stance impact its immigrant vote?
So, has National been importing its voters?
Oh, and it really does look like Phil Twyford has been vindicated.
While you are about it why don’t you enlighten us on what happened in the various Labour strongholds like the Mangere area.
On the other hand don’t bother. For all anyone knows nearly every foreign born voter might have been cast for Labour or the Greens.
There. Let’s see you prove me wrong
You do realise that the Green Party seems to be importing their MPs, rather than their voters? If, as many commenters on this blog seem to assume, they get another MP after the specials that will mean that 25% of their MPs will have been born overseas. That is higher than the New Zealand average.
The Green Party also seem to get more of their votes from people who don’t even live in New Zealand than any other party. Look at what seems to happen with the allocation of votes cast overseas each election. Why do we allow people who are long term overseas residents from voting here anyway?
Aren’t these silly statistics rather fun?
Don’t be cute, Alwyn – you know perfectly well that the country of origin of voters in Mangere is not the same as those resident in East Coast Bays. At least, if you don’t you need to get out more!
Of course the “country of origin of voters in Mangere is not the same”
So what are you saying about the Labour Party policy? Are you implying that they are racist bigots who will only allow immigrants into New Zealand if they are from races who are likely to vote Labour?
The Labour Party policies don’t publicly admit that they regard some races as being superior to others but you seem to think they should.
I have said nothing at all about Labour Party immigration policy – it’s you who’s wittering on about it. I merely pointed out that immigrants from different cultures and countries have different ideas and beliefs
Yes that’s right, before the Green Party existed those who hadn’t quite conceived of its existence realised that a refugee from Iran would be essential (you know, for something) so they imported an eight year old girl.
We don’t. If you’ve been outside the country for more than three years you’re not allowed to vote. That applies to everybody.
Meanwhile, we allow non-citizens to vote after only living here for a year. No sane country does that.
Coming over from Australia for a weekend to attend a wedding counts as still retaining the right to vote I believe. I lived in Australia for more than five years and was always qualified to vote. I didn’t vote in 1993 though as I didn’t think I should be eligible.
I would also be surprised if it was ever checked.
As far as non-citizens go I wouldn’t allow anyone who isn’t a citizen from voting at all. It should be a privilege for New Zealand citizens only.
I’d agree with that.
A lot of those north-eastern people who can vote keep their citizenship for that foreign country because it doesn’t allow dual citizenship but they still get to vote in NZ if they’re residents.
How moral of you. Imagine if that morality stopped you voting for people who lie to you cos they think you are easy to manipulate
Draco,
On election night at the National party headquarters when English was arriving, the TV cameras panned across the crowd gathered to congratulate him, in the front rows were mostly non NZ decent supporters, which made a quite a large proportion of the crowd, so “YES”, immigration is a good for National, that s why they keep it going.
Many of the immigrants come from very conservative countries, with no, or few social services and safety net.
Please tell me that this is only a typo.
“non NZ decent supporters”. I would really be disappointed if you were someone who doesn’t think that anyone who doesn’t follow you own political leanings was somehow not “decent”.
I assume it’s supposed to be ‘descent’ but even that’s an issue. Many people in NZ who are NZ citizens have descended from other than white European or Māori.
You really cannot tell who is or is not a NZ citizen by looking at them.
Barnaby Bennett posed this question:
And I must admit that I’m somewhat stumped. Why aren’t people speculating as to what a NZ1st/Nat coalition would look like and what would it do.
Any reckons?
Implode rapidly?
Probably but what sort of policy structure would we be looking at?
Would National suddenly start backing trains?
Would they can immigration or NZ1st go for increased immigration?
Renationalise a whole heap of stuff that NZ1st wants renationalised?
Etc, etc.
I certainly can’t see possible policy structure that would suit as their policy structures are too different.
NZF will have their own ideas of course. But the Gnats will set out to nobble them.
Foreign affairs for Winston – gets him out of the way a lot.
Health for Shane Jones – a poisoned chalice to cripple his future prospects.
If they are generous
Armed Forces for Ron Mark – Gerry’s getting a bit heavy for the helicopters eh.
Education for Tracy Martin – has more clues about it than any Gnat.
And work hard to siphon enough waka jumpers to destroy them all
And why ACT is being haranged for not giving away all its principles to go with Labour?