How mad of the impractical Auckland City Council to insist that nothing could be done and that this old historic building couldn’t be demolished. No-one wanted it. If the Council wanted it saved it should have bought it itself, sharing with the developer inm a PPP and come to an agreement for low cost homes and apprenticeships.
Turn a lemon into lemonade. But the decision makers aren’t contracted to run their jobs for the benefit of the people and the City as a whole; so stick close to they must stick close to the wording of a narrow contract.
The council didn’t insist that nothing could be done. That’s not their job. They simply applied the rules in the Unitary Plan and gave the building a B Heritage listing. The developer was always able to develop the building into whatever adaptive use they wanted (into apartments for example) within those parameters. But they weren’t happy with that because it wouldn’t deliver the profit they wanted. Well tough luck.
Scott GN
Some facts there. With all the powers that the sub-agencies of the ACC have, I am surprised that they couldn’t pull strings and go over the historic classification to let it be utilised. I have been involved with a lovely old church and a declining congregation. It seemed that the building had right of way over the Christian activity. I really like historic buildings. But they can’t all be kept. We have lost so much in NZ that is far more important.
And there is a lot of money goes into the investment. I presume you didn’t have any to put in. It would have been good to get some good apartments up. If the Council had watched like hawks and spied on their roving checkers to see what they did and didn’t, we would have had buildings to replace those going down the toilet in other areas.
Sorry greywarshark. After decades of greed driven demolition of our finest buildings I’m grateful for whatever scanty protections are now in place to protect our much diminished built heritage in Auckland. And I don’t really give a fuck if that puts developers on the outer.
If you want low cost housing you don’t even have to go a kilometre from the St James Church in Mt Eden to find acres and acres of crappy post 60s cinder block light- industrial buildings perfect for rebuilding as housing stock. Knock yourself out.
Yeah I do actually. And I don’t believe that no one wants them. That’s just a lazy notion on which to base the excuse to demolish and maximise economic potential. Look at Britomart and all the Victorian and Edwardian warehousing in that area that we were told was of no use and that nobody wanted and which came so close to being demolished. It’s now one of the most vibrant downtown neighbourhoods.
Not a bad list marty mars. Thank you. But naughty, naughty… you left off the “e”. 😉
Incognito is also a favourite of mine. His comments are always very thoughtful.
And a plug for Wayne. He comes here frequently so he must enjoy this site. We may not see eye to eye with with him, but his vast experience and knowledge of the subjects he chooses to comment on should be acknowledged. I, for one, have learnt stuff I didn’t know before.
“alwyn is fighting a good retreat”.
Retreat? What on earth do you mean sir?
I take my lead from US Marine General Oliver P Smith.
His most famous statement, made during the Korean War, was
“Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction”.
I wouldn’t, of course, use the Royal “we” so just change the “We’re” to “I’m”
“And a plug for Wayne. He comes here frequently so he must enjoy this site. We may not see eye to eye with with him, but his vast experience and knowledge of the subjects he chooses to comment on should be acknowledged. I, for one, have learnt stuff I didn’t know before.”
Have to agree regarding McFlock, have thought so for quite a while now. I’ll always read what he has to say as there’s much intelligence and wisdom there. Puddleglum was right up there too but sadly has gone silent both here and on his Political Scientist blog since Aug. 2017.
Thanks lprent and everyone else involved in keeping TS running.
Thanks Marty but mine a pretty insignificant. There are many that make great comments here including your own that are a great mix of wisdom and sometimes crankiness 😀
And thank you for the mention. You are really “brave” making an honours list. One of those situations where we always manage to leave someone out and upset them. LOL!
We (humanity) have a problem, and perversely it is the cause of all our woes but that which we devote all our abilities to, and it is ‘growth’ or alternatively ‘more’.
Irrespective of our political leanings our models are designed to serve this desire no matter how it is dressed…and it would appear the most effective model to deliver to these desires is market capitalism, but it is not the only participant in the race for more, merely the current leader.
Recent volatility indicates a growing fear of missing out , albeit a subliminal understanding, it is like a rush on supermarket shelves when a shortage is announced or the mayhem at a “Black Friday” sale in the US…..but this is a (fire) sale that we cannot choose to avoid when every government pursues an agenda of growth.
Until we recognise this, design and implement a contrary model we will destroy ourselves for in this world of ‘more’ there is one thing that gets less and less …and that is time.
The facts are the population is growing, thus until that is turned around growth is required. The occurrence of a natural imposition forcing major change is years away. Therefore, I can’t see “less” being the word for 2019.
Moreover, what happened to the goal of trying to achieve sustainable growth?
there is no such thing as sustainable growth in a finite environment….the only relevant factors are the size of the environment and the rate of growth….I dont think anyone can seriously argue that we have reached the limits.
As to a growing population driving growth , while that may have some impact the reality is much of the worlds resources (and the downstream impacts) is wasted on non essentials……reduce the non essentials and more resources are available for the essential….and then theres inequality.
Well there is your first hurdle as many believe there is.
“I dont think anyone can seriously argue that we have reached the limits.”
Again, which is why I don’t see “less” being the word for 2019.
However, I agree a lot of resources are wasted on non essentials, thus there will be more publicly acceptable scope for improvement in that regards.
Inequality is a big one to overcome in any transition, less is not a word people that are currently struggling can afford to hear. And having less is not likely to be something the well to do will willingly surrender too.
Our debt based money supply is another (often overlooked) factor driving the need for growth.
“Well there is your first hurdle as many believe there is”
Am well aware its a message that is unlikely to be well received or easy to sell. It remains a message that needs to be expressed however.
“Again, which is why I don’t see “less” being the word for 2019”
That needed to be edited…and wasnt, to read “…have not reached the limits”. And it is ‘aspirational’.
“Inequality is a big one to overcome in any transition, less is not a word people that are currently struggling can afford to hear. And having less is not likely to be something the well to do will willingly surrender too.”
Not only the well to do, though they have more to lose and greater influence…..but again, they have a choice.
“Our debt based money supply is another (often overlooked) factor driving the need for growth.”
Hence…
“Until we recognise this, design and implement a contrary model we will destroy ourselves for in this world of ‘more’ there is one thing that gets less and less …and that is time.”
It may be a message that needs to be expressed but if you can’t sell it and people aren’t willing to take note, it won’t be one that willingly takes hold.
sometimes things develop a life of their own….seeds need to be planted, (and nurtured) and theres quite a bit of unconnected planting happening at the moment.
Humanity is ‘wedded to growth’; it’s basic biology/psychology. So much misdirected intelligence, so little wisdom.
This is wisdom:
“Any discovery which renders consumption less necessary to the pursuit of living is as much an economic gain as a discovery which improves our skills of production. (Kenneth Boulding, 1945)”
There are few indications that humanity can collectively imagine or magic its way out of wedded-to-growth messes.
“The current economic system being utilized and internalized relies on perpetual growth. It has long operated counter to the reality that we are confined to a finite planet with finite resources. Yet, this system continues to be practiced and promoted globally. As the environmental and social repercussions of disbelief in limits become increasingly clear, so does our need for a new economic system —one that is not wedded to growth. Neither growth in the number of consumers nor growth in the amount consumed.”
“So far the politicians and economists are so wedded to growth that they insist that economic growth is itself the main characteristic of sustainable development.” – a fine example of magical thinking; our leaders have so many constraints on their imagination.
People are lost and don’t know what to do or think, so often don’t think, including you The Chairman and you follow the general RW stance of carefully stamping on any idea until it loses all its puff. If we all stick in your rut with you we will likely find when TSHTF that you have a backdoor sorted for yourself and those you consider worthy. But the trouble is, that your world will be so changed that having further time in the world with the remnants of civilisation, will be a poisoned chalice.
To be honest, greywarshark I believe it was Pat that failed to think this out. I can’t see “less” being the word for 2019. Perhaps at some stage in the future, but not in 2019.
At this stage, even the Greens are still talking about sustainable growth.
Or perhaps I have thought it through a little further than yourself….less is a theme of des gilets jaunes. Less tax on the poorest, less inequality, less hypocrisy, less of the elite….and the yellow vests arnt only in France so maybe ‘less’ will be the word for 2019.
“Less tax on the poorest, less inequality, less hypocrisy, less of the elite…”
You must be joking, right? This Government is supportive of regressive taxes. Are full of hypocrisy and are taking a slow and insufficient approach when it comes to addressing inequality.
Unlike the French, we took our petrol tax hikes rather well, thus I can’t see people with yellow vest hitting the streets here in numbers. Well, not in 2019 anyway.
Isnt the point of the post that what governments are promoting at the moment needs to change?….and the French are old hands at public protest so its not surprising they would be among the first…NZ is a ‘fast follower’…well at least according to Key so I wouldnt write it off.
Theres always a tipping point and politicians have a history of being unable to judge it.
“Isnt the point of the post that what governments are promoting at the moment needs to change?”
Indeed. But you are dreaming if you expect that change to happen here in 2019.
“NZ is a ‘fast follower’…
Ha, I get the impression we are more like the land of Pineapple Lumps.
While there is always a tipping point and politicians have a history of being unable to judge it, we a far from it yet.
Many here still believe Jacinda will deliver. Once the disillusionment sets in, we may then see a tipping point. Then again, the majority may just show their discontent by voting for National or more may not vote at all. People taking to the streets in mass is not something I foresee in this country’s near future.
“I can’t see too many people that are currently struggling to cope as it is asking that question but I can see an increase in the number of those struggling going forward.”
Id suggest that those wearing the yellow vests have already asked and answered that question…..Macron is now deciding the current answer on behalf of the French elite….it wont be the last time .
People taking to the streets is only one method….change is coming whether we choose it or not. A question that will be increasingly asked is how much am i willing to give up to avoid losing everything…that question will hit different people and different societies at different times but its unavoidable.
Not in 2019. Well, not the change your are hoping for.
“A question that will be increasingly asked is how much am i willing to give up to avoid losing everything…”
I can’t see too many people that are currently struggling to cope as it is asking that question but I can see an increase in the number of those struggling going forward.
And at this stage, I don’t think there are many that can afford to relinquish feeling as if they are faced with losing it all if they don’t.
The way to go is to understand what can be done now. We have to unerstand and circumvent the wealthy and their running dogs (very communist term that, but i am noticing similarities in capitalism and communism – both attempt to snatch everything for the leaders’ control and advantage).
The links on both of the ‘Ten most…’ posts are acting weird. When I right-click and open in new tab they both open in the new tab and have that page go on to the clicked link. This does not appear to be an issue with Firefox as other pages are working fine.
For diehards like myself (and mickysavage?), the mystery continues of the continuing leaks from someone in the National caucus despite Jami-lee Ross no longer being a member of the Nat Caucus or Party.
Obviously Chris Trotter is also a diehard in this regard, and yesterday he posted a piece on interest.co.nz which has not appeared on his own blog, Bowalley Road or on The Daily Blog.
Well worth taking a few minutes to read, Trotter’s article starts with a quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” and then ponders the possibilities …
Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”
Sherlock Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
The Adventure of Silver Blaze – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
What would Sherlock Holmes make of the fact that National’s caucus kept on leaking against Simon Bridges even after Jami-Lee Ross had been thrown out of it?
So much time and effort had been put into tracking down the person responsible for leaking Bridges’ travel expenses – almost as much as that dedicated to disciplining and punishing the alleged culprit. Ross’s response to this latter effort provided what was easily the most spectacular political story of 2018. Having metaphorically poured petrol over himself and struck a match, Ross was, unsurprisingly, hauled off the political stage. End of story? Not at all. The leaks kept coming.
What does that tell us? The obvious response: if Ross was no longer in a position to leak sensitive information from the National caucus, then somebody else must have done it. And, if that is the case, then it is surely arguable that Ross may never have been the leaker. Except, that would mean that he had been set up. That he was the designated patsy in a complex plot to leave Bridges vulnerable to attack by removing Ross from the equation. (Anyone who’s watched The Godfather will instantly recognise the move. Before “hitting” Don Corleone, his enemies were careful to first eliminate his fearsome bodyguard, Luca Brasi.)
The curious incident of the dog that continues to bark raises a great many subsidiary questions concerning Bridges long-term future as National’s leader. Not the least of these is: Whose conspiracy are we witnessing? Cui bono? …
Any more would be a spoiler so I will leave it at that, other than to say that he has expressed extremely well what I have been thinking but in a much less orderly and rational manner.
AND the comments to date are well worth reading – if only for the contrast in their quality compared for example to those on Stuff articles. I don’t often venture to interest.co.nz but have now bookmarked it for further exploration of existing articles and future ones.
Excellent analysis, & the leaker is the sleeper issue for the new year until another leak wakes everyone up. Trotter’s theorising assumes intelligence in the National camp. Bit of a stretch, that, always.
“If it’s Bridges’ intention simply to act as some sort of Far-Right John the Baptist to Judith Collin’s Messiah, then, from the moderates’ perspective, the sooner he’s politically beheaded the better.”
He’s arguing for the Collins coup not to be delayed till late 2019. Assuming the moderates in National are a credible faction (rather than a vortex of flotsam & jetsam) and will coalesce around a rightist JC semi-plausibly reinvented as a bland moderate. If, in an interview, when asked about any past alignment with Lusk, she replies “Simon who?” she ought to be credited with wit. Journalists would immediately run a plethora of stories claiming it to be a put-down of Bridges.
Until she fronts as that clever, I can’t see caucus moderates being drawn into her orbit – unless she passes Bridges in the preferred PM poll. Nat rats deserting the sinking ship would then tip the balance. Ralston reckons “that Ross has been used by a couple of Machiavellian plotters on the Nats’ periphery to pave the way for Collins to oust Bridges”. Naive. No such leverage from the periphery is ever possible. However, if he means Lusk protégés working with one or more team-builders with current influence on the caucus thinking, the theory is feasible. Seems to me that JLR was indeed set up, but as likely by Bridges working with other leading Nats as by any such Lusk-masterminded operation.
Deeply thoughtful vv. Was that the one where Holmes looked to see if there were limping sheep, having a thought that the favourite for the race could have been knobbled with a small cut to a tendon, and the sheep used for practice so the main job would be perfect.
Yes, but those details are not relevant to Trotter’s specific reference to the conversation between Gregory and Holmes about “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, in particular:
Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
The dog did nothing – eg it did not bark. Why?
Because it was an inside job. There were no strangers and the dog did not bark because it knew the person who took Silver Blaze from its stall and out onto the moor.
That Conan Doyle quote has long been used as a metaphor (?) for inside jobs where the perpetrator may well be “hoist with his/her own petard”. Just to throw in a bit of Shakespeare for what Trotter is intimating in his article. LOL
I wondered whether it had the sheep in it too. I got the bit about the dog that didn’t bark. I wonder if the gang has tried something similar on someone else in the past as a test case?
Go back and read it again – you seem to have not read or ignored almost the entire second half of the article other than the final two paragraphs..
It starts with this teaser (my bold):
Then again, what we have witnessed over the past few months may actually be the preparations for a pre-emptive coup: a blocking move intended to make a Collins takeover impossible. But who could do that? Who possesses the necessary political skills to manoeuvre one poorly performing leader out of his job in order to prevent a colleague determined to shift the National Party sharply to the right from taking his place?
A feasible scenario, but of less import than the others. Why? It requires a level of machiavellian thought I doubt exists within the Nats. We just never get evidence that much happens there above the level of simple-mindedness. I’ve been watching them since the late sixties. The consistency of thought that prevails in National Party culture has always been summed up by their`morons rule, okay?’ mindset.
But hey, if you see evidence of that scenario firming up, I’d be keen for you to share it. Anything other than their usual incompetence would be a pleasant surprise.
Chris Trotter has also been close to the action for many years – probably much closer than you or I as a political commentator. He has shared it as a scenario and I have then shared his thoughts.
IMO you are naive it you think all Nats are simple minded and consistent in their thoughts – and judge them on that singular perception. Machiavellian thought is well within the realms of possibility for some and has been evident over the years – eg how did Key get parachuted in and by whom?
Key told Roughan that he decided to be PM when he was a child. Or maybe he told his mother that, can’t recall. But it’s in the biography. Don’t need Machiavelli. Occam’s razor.
Re Trotter, yeah, no problem apart from the lack of evidence offered. He has to dream up scenarios to make features from. Infotainment is okay.
Yes, Key always wanted to be PM, but the way that he ended up coming back to NZ and being parachuted into the Helensville electorate, etc involved a lot of maginations behind the scenes within National involving people like Michelle Boag etc …
Those moves were certainly not simple-minded, above board maneuvering. Occam’s Razor is not always right.
VIDEO: Staffers caught dragging, slapping, & pushing migrant children at a detention facility operated by Southwest Key (a nonprofit whose CEO makes millions on the backs of undocumented children). Full video as obtained by the Arizona Republic: https://t.co/0rt2KKaqWapic.twitter.com/svGwFemlrb— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) December 29, 2018
[…]
“Though Southwest Key is, on paper, a charity, no one has benefited more than Mr. Sanchez, now 71. Serving as chief executive, he was paid $1.5 million last year — more than twice what his counterpart at the far larger American Red Cross made.”
[…]
“Mr. Sanchez is central to the administration’s plans. Southwest Key can now house up to 5,000 children in its 24 shelters, including a converted Walmart Supercenter that has drawn criticism as a warehouse for youths.“
[…]
”The system is nearing a breaking point, with a record 14,000 minors at about 100 sites — a human crisis, but also a moneymaking opportunity.”
What’s the bet that Mr Sanchez was originally Cuban. The money making elite driven out by the people attempting to shift power there, have carried a deep grudge that they were forced away from their feeding stalls.
The same will happen here if we can make changes. Be prepared for hard times.
Pretty sad when the most intelligent television commentary
comes from a right wing host on Fox News.
As Jimmy Dore says, “If Tucker Carlson can get it right, then you should get it right, too. You should be embarrassed that Tucker Carlson asks questions that you won’t.”
Over the years Dore’s made dozens of videos monetised Syrian suffering with titles like Truth about Syria etc, but his ignorance about the plight of Rojava and YPG Kurds makes it pretty damn clear that disingenuous prick never really bothered researching the issue.
of course he has
Thats what they all do
Entertainment and click bait Serious journalists who do the hard yards and research are the ones to read, even if you don’t always like what they say
They’re a distinct people trying for a degree of self-determination spread among four different nasty authoritarian regimes, with some sort of war going on involving them for most of those people’s lifetimes. That’s quite a shitty situation to be in. So it’s not entirely surprising some of their ways of dealing with that are in turn shitty as well.
That observation isn’t excusing the shittiness, it’s just acknowledgement of shitty realities. And it’s good reason to be sympathetic and helpful towards their self-determination goals.
But yeah, anyone holding Rojava up as some sort of paragon to be aspired to is either deluded or in possession of some pretty shitty values and priorities themselves.
The thing, to me, about Tucker is hes a smart on to it guy, he knows what hes talking about but he spends far too much time hosting nutters on his show
Yeah its fun watching him dismantle the loons but its easy, low hanging fruit so its good to watch him stretch himself a bit
What was wrong with what I said? Can you explain, no!
I’ll try.
Tucker is good at his job. You may not like him because he works for Fox but that’s irrelevant.
Antifa are an organised group of cowards who cover there faces, and use violence to oppress other people. There arguments get destroyed by people like Tucker, so since there ideas are mostly worthless they resort to violence to get there way. They especially hate free speech, a modus operandi of the radical left. Attacking a persons home because Tucker can so easily mock them was this years most childish act of protest. If they took there masks off, had some signs, and used no violence, and didn’t flee before the police arrived, then they might have had a tiny bit of credibility. They have none.
The KKK and their offshoot the Black Legion are way worse than Antifa will ever be. They used to actually kill black men for even looking at white women. Kill them. 30000 blacks were lynched by the KKK from the 1870’s to the 1960’s, and we now have Trump who wants to encourage that activity again. But you condone that behavior.
Morrissey
I thought that is the opposite of what he said. Your reply does not fit the context.
So apologise. The Black Legion was an authoritarian, quasi-military organization, which forced discipline upon its heavily-armed members by initiating them at the point of a gun and threatening death if they ever disclosed the secrets of the group to outsiders. To join the organization, a person had to swear that he was a white, native-born, Protestant American citizen and agree to take up arms, when called upon, against the group’s enemies. https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/black-legion
But a little non beltway cause and effect analysis could suggest at heart it is a architecture for the systemic creation of black markets on a global scale, exposing ill-equiped societal institutions to organised crime syndicates.
A changing of the guard from that of the political rorting classes to those of mafia type extortion in the body politic.
Political economy is never satiated, it never has enough, & even when the bountiful garden is transformed into a disease festering mud sludge, it will still be demanding more like nothing has changed!!
What’s so difficult to understand? Prof Kelsey demonstrates that she doesn’t understand democracy yet again. Simple. Dunno where you get all that mafioso stuff from!
Will the alt-trade initiative she discusses turn out to be just as ephemeral as Sue Bradford’s leftist think-tank? Probably. But I hope not. We need a credible alternative to the pragmatic neoliberalism the coalition is using.
But Prof Kelsey has good points. She is saying that we aren’t proceeding democratically isn’t she? That we are being forced into a corner with these trade agreements.
The way representative democracy was designed to operate is for electors to elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf. When a majority of these form a govt, that govt therefore puts democracy into practice via legislation.
Which is precisely what has happened with the modified TPPA. What part does Kelsey continue to fail to get?? And why try to spin democratic decision-making as being forced into a corner? Is she really that keen to get a public reputation for being delusional? I marched against the thing, but as soon as the Herald published their editorial pointing out that the secret lawyer tribunal that decided in favour of Exxon, when the govt of Ecuador penalised them for failing to clean up their jungle pollution, had been unable to enforce the judgment, I agreed with the Herald that paranoia was unnecessary. Reality has since then continued to prove that the thing has no teeth. Kelsey prefers paranoia to reality, obviously, but I see no reason to agree that bad mental health ought to be contagious…
Well said, Dennis. I had just started drafting a reply to you that had got as far as the quote below when I decided I had wasted too much time here today already and to leave it and get outside.
Dennis, you make some good points re Kelsey and it is good to see some people finally getting there. Kelsey is anti any form of trade agreement – period, And always has been. I have met her and she is a nice person and very intelligent, but she is intransigent on that point.
Whether people like it or not, NZ, and most countries in the modern world are trading nations with imports/exports integral to their economies and ways of living.
People can dream all they like, but until the world as we know it blows apart (through climate change or other factors) trading between nations will continue – with a requirement for agreed methods, procedures etc of doing so.
Like any form of commerce, inter-nation trading requires ongoing negotiation, compromise, agreement etc within agreed parameters for doing so. Such negotiations are ongoing continually and cover a multitude of areas and fields other than just pure trade.
One of the main objectives of a democratic elected form of government is that people vote in representatives to act on their behalf in undertaking such negotiations, compromises and agreements. Very little would ever be achieved if every single such agreement had to be put out to a democratic vote by everyone.
So “snap” in terms of the last para above and your first para.
I could write volumes on the subject of trade generally, older style trade agreements, the more recent ones etc but won’t go there today. I grew up as the child of a NZ Trade Commissioner and we lived overseas for my teen years in that capacity; I then went on to similar forms of government jobs involving international govt interaction on specific areas I will not go into.
I think you are onto it. The power base in government has been corrupted, it is full of minor princelings who love their money, the women who never were feminists but have jumped with alacrity into moneyed, prominent positions, they see things along efficiency and class lines. There isn’t much integrity there, it is staying in power, and playing the credulous, incurious or value-bereft society like a fisherman with multi-hook lines.
When Jeremy Corbyn becomes P.M. it will be like this.
Thirty years ago, they predicted the tiresome and absurd smears about being a Russian agent, and even the bitching about him choosing to travel second class on the train…
This Brian Eno thinkpiece was on TS a decade on, but in case anyone misses it I am putting it here also. I like his thinking. What is your feeling? (3 minutes)
Something I don’t like – nasty flesh eating bug and the medical establishment in Australia doesn’t see to know enough about it apart from its name.
Cases are also getting more severe, leading to larger wounds that can take longer than a year to heal.
“It’s got a toxin that actually does three things,” explained Associate Professor Daniel O’Brien from Barwon Health.
“One is dissolve flesh.
“A second thing is it produces is an anaesthetic agent so a lot of the time, especially early on, patients don’t feel it.
“The third thing is it actually paralyses the immune system.”
The flesh-eating bacteria, Mycobacterium ulcerans, is related to the infection that causes leprosy.
It stays dormant in an infected person for months before a wound starts to bulge.
“It is an aggressive disease that’s not easy to treat,” Dr O’Brien said.
“It’s not your usual bacteria, so normal antibiotics don’t work….
Over several weeks, it swells into a much larger and more obvious red bulge.
Eventually, the skin breaks open, exposing a raw and pus-filled wound that continues to grow.
This is how a Buruli ulcer forms, the result of flesh-eating bacteria that is infecting hundreds of Victorians.
“It was really scary,” university student Jacinta Mazzarella said. “I was really worried I might lose my limb.”
Several months ago, the 18-year-old developed a Buruli ulcer that was bigger than an Australian 50-cent coin on her left ankle…
“I couldn’t work because I wasn’t allowed to stand on it for a long period of time, so I had a good four, five months off,” she said.
“I’m a dancer – I had to stop dancing.”
Fortunately, medical advancements have meant treatments are much more effective than in the past, and Ms Mazzarella’s skin is starting to heal after extensive medical care….
Although Labour failed to reduce GP fees down to $8 as announced in their election campaign, they have nonetheless lower them.
The question now is are they going to also lower prescription fees?
A colleague visited the doctor the other day and was charged $18.50. They were then charged $30 for their prescription. While some may think $48.50 in total isn’t much, for those struggling it can be a major setback. It certainly put a dent in their Christmas. Therefore, it would be good to know if Labour are also working on getting these costs down too?
OAB was invariably on the money but one or two moderators didn’t seem to like his style. He copped a few bans and after the last one he never returned.
You don’t have to be a smoker to be negatively impacted by this madness.
Ever had your house, workplace or car burgled? Ever had a knife pulled on you and money demands put on you on the street?
Think of the shop owners and their staff and how many of them have been harmed or killed. Think of the children that have been and are likely to be caught up in a shop holdup.
The continual increases in price are apparently having diminishing results in encouraging people to give up, marty.
In recent months, there has been quite a lot of publicity and calls for this approach to be dropped or relooked at due to the unintended consequences of increased attacks etc on shop keepers etc.
The approach is also seen as out of step etc with the approach to alcohol sales – and more lately, to the moves towards decriminalisation etc of cannabis.
Big subject so above is pretty rough but one for discussion another day.
I’m sure various links could be put up from all sides.
Diminishing returns are expected with this approach.
I’ve read plenty this year about the attacks and what not – anyone being robbed is horrible.
Put the price up and get an increase in robberies is a bit simplistic for me – I think many more variables are in the mix AND that doesn’t diminish the impact of this factor of price.
So a wide approach across a broad front with support and help available and a continued incremental price increase is a plan I like.
There is no law that says people should be allowed to smoke – things change.
The nearest he came was to wait outside the house at night in the hope she forgot to close the bedroom curtains and he might catch a glimpse of her undressing for bed.
My father was a corner grocer from when I was five. I loved using our cash drawer but wanted a proper till à la Arkwright for Christmas. Santa visited our store and I told him i wanted a till. The poor old gent became very hard of hearing until my mother appeared after about three increasingly louder versions of “I want a TILL”!
Surprisingly, he then understood me, I got a little red till for Christmas to play shops with, and an increased understanding about life from then on………
Now I too am a store Santa in the season and get very hard of hearing sometimes.
A great Christmas story thanks mac1. Santa is very important to us all, encouraging us to think of others, to turn towards children and bring some fun and a ritual that is positive into their lives. The commercialisation and stress is because the trend has been away from that, to what’s in it for ‘me’.
The buying and selling, consumption and possession of tobacco products is not a crime. Users are generally addicted, which makes it a health problem.
What I noted was crime related to the soaring cost due to the continued tax hikes.
It wouldn’t surprise me that the Government plans to tax it hard, but unlike tobacco, the marijuana black market is well established, which will make it extremely difficult for the Government to compete if they tax it too hard.
i was agreeing with you.
i’m sure you can follow that.
this government is already preparing a rationale for higher taxes on (future) legalised marijuana even if non-smoked marijuana is less addictive than smoked.
it is doing that by preparing enforcement regimes through the Police showing risk of public harm while driving influenced. Nash will take this to Select Committee first quarter.
this also responds to Nick Smith’s citizen petition on road deaths caused ny drugged drivers.
this comm9n harm rationale sets up the regulatory equivalence between tobacco and marijuana.
Are there tests that can explicitly show a driver is under the influence and is not merely showing they have consumed it sometime in the past week or month? And are the Government planning on introducing these tests as part of this new enforcement regime?
Yes there are, TC. Saliva based testing gives a snapshot of recent use (hours, rather than days). However, the standard for saliva testing at evidential level has not yet been approved. That should happen in the next few months and it will impact on workplace testing as well.
Sarah Leamon (a Vancouver lawyer specializing in cannabis law) said “the bottom line is that all of these devices don’t have any reflection on the level of impairment at all when it comes to the subject of the test”
You are correct that Labour won’t rethink this. It’s nothing to do with them. It’s a statutory body that sets the guidelines, not the Government. There is widespread acceptance in the testing industry that saliva is the way to go as it is more accurate in showing impairment, rather than historical use. However, those wedded to the profits to be made from urine based testing are dead against.
What it comes down to is whether we are testing for safety reasons or because we like to punish people for their lifestyle choices. I can tell you that NZ employers are over the moral argument; they just want good, safe employees who turn up for work. What the workers do in the weekends is no longer the issue.
“What the workers do in the weekends is no longer the issue.”
It is when they are being tested by a device that is unfit for purpose.
It seems these testing devices don’t indicate any reflection on the level of impairment. Therefore, showing someone smoked a joint on Sunday night doesn’t mean they are impaired, thus unfit for work (or to drive) the following morning. Hence, it’s far from fair and just, thus Government shouldn’t support it.
They literally do show the level of impairment. That’s the point of them and why they are superior for evidential purposes. I’d prefer we simply don’t test at all, but if we are going to do it, then best we go for the most accurate devices.
“There is no one blood or oral fluid concentration that can differentiate impaired and not impaired,” says Marilyn Huestis, who spent over 20 years leading cannabinoid-related research projects at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-01/cp-dar011818.php
I’m guessing Labour will try and get around this by creating limits for THC levels in oral fluid concentration. This is essentially a legal shortcut that will allow police to lay an impaired driving charge based on a driver’s oral fluid concentration level, without actually having to prove impairment.
While police already use limits for alcohol impairment, blood alcohol concentration has been shown to have a close, predictable link to impairment. The same is simply not true of saliva testing and blood THC levels, and this is where things become underhanded and unjust.
So that is top of the list to do. This cannabis thing has gone on for years; far too long. Let’s do all that is needed to get a sensible thoroughgoing system in place without room for doubters and ditherers to put their spoke in.
Evidence-based thinking. That is a term i have heard is regarded as best practice. It might be the right way to go in dealing with cannabis in all its issues, which are so clouded with emotion and its history. It would be better than listening to all those who can think of a thousand reasons not to do something. Result, nothing settled and achieved and we can never move on, and the undealt with matters of importance to our lives linger around and cause so much pain that is totally avoidable.
Tobacco companies have sought compensation before when their returns have been threaten. Therefore, surely they would seek compensation over this proposal?
The costs (tax) of smoking has far exceeded compensating the Crown for costs.
Cullen declined increasing tax on tobacco as he said the Crown already recovered costs. Less superannuation etc.
Presently smokers are being ripped off.
Smokers are financially compensating healthcare for other industries like sugar.
Smokers are charged for the cost of healthcare in ordinary taxes, then pay more than full health insurance in descriminatory taxes. They pay more than twice, but only die once.
Health nuts that live to 90, need rest homes, healthcare, super etc for much longer, cost us a fortune and don’t pay there fair share of taxes. Hypocricy.
And to top it off, smoking prevalence is higher among those with lower socioeconomic status.
It’s a regressive tax largely hurting the poor. And the damage (stress and fiscal hardship) it bears down upon families and individuals is largely unreported.
My focus on the roads was more related to Labour’s failure to deliver a 4 lane expressway. And yes, National failed to deliver on it as well. Which just reaffirms they both suck.
Like this one!
Followed up by Mrs Doyle who is as persistent as a National Party political female. And at the back is an example of a a male polly past his use-by date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG0QKaaLTCE
2018 seems to be ending with the sound of reality sucking the rug out from underneath Trump. “Right-wing columnist Ann Coulter – author of In Trump We Trust – recently predicted he will not be re-elected. “Without a wall, he will only be remembered as a small cartoon figure who briefly inflamed and amused the rabble,” she wrote.”
“Before leaving, he gave a rare interview to the LA Times, published on Sunday, in which he called the role a “bone-crushing hard job”. “To be honest, it’s not a wall,” Mr Kelly said, when asked about plans for the border. The former Marine Corps general was initially appointed as Mr Trump’s homeland security secretary before becoming chief of staff in July 2017. As soon as he did so, he told the LA Times, he sought advice from those who “actually secure the border”.”
All in all, it’s just another non-brick in the non-wall – Kelly reckons steel slats are the current plan (so the guards can see through). “Trump has tweeted the term “wall” 59 times this month alone.” Gotta keep them rednecks fixated on their dream. Trump has a mandate from voters to build the wall, but cannot give voters what they want until Congress agrees on the funding. And, as Coulter reminded us, voters means rabble.
Stalemate in the haggling process has caused Trump to threaten to close the border. Both Democrats and Republicans tacitly agree that a partial govt shutdown is better than deciding on the amount of expenditure. Neither has been honest enough to explain this to voters/rabble. Agreeing on the wall budget would give voters/rabble the result they elected Trump to produce. Both parties insist the current sham is better than real democracy.
Kid from Remuera gets knighthood: “Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt KNZM (born 19 February 1947) is a New Zealand politician.” Doesn’t say left-wing. Karl Marx was the name of his concrete mixer (the one that he towed behind the mayoral car in ’83). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Shadbolt
He was “editor of Craccum in 1972. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he became prominent in the Progressive Youth Movement, a radical left-wing organisation, and was arrested 33 times during political protests”. One News re-ran a selection of shots of young Tim in rabble-rousing mode from the early seventies.
Reminds us that saying bullshit in public was illegal back then. Tell that to younger generations now and I bet they refuse to believe you. Try it.
“In the 1996 general election he stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.” Ah, but will he campaign for legalisation in 2020?
Everything;
Nation – Kiwi – Fern – Black Cap – Sailing – New Zealand – All Black – Triumph – Loss
Has nothing to do with me
I have no influence or control over the outcomes
I have no right to bask in the glory of the success of individual or minor collectives
Just like every other entity bounded by this coastline
Most are deluded
Born here – by accident – like all.
New Zealander ?
WTF
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12183918
How convenient for the developer who has been trying to approval to demolish for ages?
How mad of the impractical Auckland City Council to insist that nothing could be done and that this old historic building couldn’t be demolished. No-one wanted it. If the Council wanted it saved it should have bought it itself, sharing with the developer inm a PPP and come to an agreement for low cost homes and apprenticeships.
Turn a lemon into lemonade. But the decision makers aren’t contracted to run their jobs for the benefit of the people and the City as a whole; so stick close to they must stick close to the wording of a narrow contract.
The council didn’t insist that nothing could be done. That’s not their job. They simply applied the rules in the Unitary Plan and gave the building a B Heritage listing. The developer was always able to develop the building into whatever adaptive use they wanted (into apartments for example) within those parameters. But they weren’t happy with that because it wouldn’t deliver the profit they wanted. Well tough luck.
Scott GN
Some facts there. With all the powers that the sub-agencies of the ACC have, I am surprised that they couldn’t pull strings and go over the historic classification to let it be utilised. I have been involved with a lovely old church and a declining congregation. It seemed that the building had right of way over the Christian activity. I really like historic buildings. But they can’t all be kept. We have lost so much in NZ that is far more important.
And there is a lot of money goes into the investment. I presume you didn’t have any to put in. It would have been good to get some good apartments up. If the Council had watched like hawks and spied on their roving checkers to see what they did and didn’t, we would have had buildings to replace those going down the toilet in other areas.
Sorry greywarshark. After decades of greed driven demolition of our finest buildings I’m grateful for whatever scanty protections are now in place to protect our much diminished built heritage in Auckland. And I don’t really give a fuck if that puts developers on the outer.
If you want low cost housing you don’t even have to go a kilometre from the St James Church in Mt Eden to find acres and acres of crappy post 60s cinder block light- industrial buildings perfect for rebuilding as housing stock. Knock yourself out.
So you think all historic buildings should be kept even if no-one wants them? Sounds impractical to me.
Yeah I do actually. And I don’t believe that no one wants them. That’s just a lazy notion on which to base the excuse to demolish and maximise economic potential. Look at Britomart and all the Victorian and Edwardian warehousing in that area that we were told was of no use and that nobody wanted and which came so close to being demolished. It’s now one of the most vibrant downtown neighbourhoods.
The Honour’s system.
Best overall commenter – McFlock – rarely goes overboard, often deadly accurate, always relevant.
Best mod – mickey cos he hardly ever does much
Best rightie – tough one but puckish gets it for excessive wit.
Best try and make it different initiative – robert guyton – you’ll be a mod soon if you don’t watch out.
Most missed – so many
Most provocative (personal view) – TRP close but I’m going with bill
Most important – lprent you are a legend
Important mentions – Ann – thank you, VV – good you are vocal, muttonbird – keeping us on track, macro – love your comments.
And of course many others, too many to name such as joe, ed, grey, maui, rosemary, dennis, pat, andre, Patricia, gabby and so on…
All the best for the next year everyone.
Not a bad list marty mars. Thank you. But naughty, naughty… you left off the “e”. 😉
Incognito is also a favourite of mine. His comments are always very thoughtful.
And a plug for Wayne. He comes here frequently so he must enjoy this site. We may not see eye to eye with with him, but his vast experience and knowledge of the subjects he chooses to comment on should be acknowledged. I, for one, have learnt stuff I didn’t know before.
Oh and btw, Sanctuary should receive a mention although his forth-rightness does upset some people. Oh dear, the list goes on …….
BM too and alwyn is fighting a good retreat. The morrie too – we are indeed blessed. Sorry about the e.
“alwyn is fighting a good retreat”.
Retreat? What on earth do you mean sir?
I take my lead from US Marine General Oliver P Smith.
His most famous statement, made during the Korean War, was
“Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction”.
I wouldn’t, of course, use the Royal “we” so just change the “We’re” to “I’m”
“And a plug for Wayne. He comes here frequently so he must enjoy this site. We may not see eye to eye with with him, but his vast experience and knowledge of the subjects he chooses to comment on should be acknowledged. I, for one, have learnt stuff I didn’t know before.”
Yeah agree with that Anne.
Test. (3rd time lucky)
Have to agree regarding McFlock, have thought so for quite a while now. I’ll always read what he has to say as there’s much intelligence and wisdom there. Puddleglum was right up there too but sadly has gone silent both here and on his Political Scientist blog since Aug. 2017.
Thanks lprent and everyone else involved in keeping TS running.
Happy new year all.
Was it the Political Scientist link that stopped previous comments getting through(?)
edit: No, maybe just Mondayitis..
Bugger sorry I didn’t add you too fender – love your comments.
Thanks Marty but mine a pretty insignificant. There are many that make great comments here including your own that are a great mix of wisdom and sometimes crankiness 😀
You’ve got a good sense of humor and a sharp wit. We need more of that imo.
Oh thanks mate. Hey with your interest in the cosmos I recommend this talk with graphic renderings on the Milky Way that I came across recently.
I’ll accept half wit 🙂
You’ll have no choice but to accept halfwit if you are going to continue to promote the nasty JC 😀
And to you and your whanau, marty.
And thank you for the mention. You are really “brave” making an honours list. One of those situations where we always manage to leave someone out and upset them. LOL!
Ha for sure. It is my way of expressing that whakataukī that gets used alot – it is about people and if so, who are the people.
I couldn’t do it but I know someone who writes memoirs – be cool to see one about the people of The Standard imo from then to now.
Marty, Thanks. You get the most sincere prize. xx
Gosh. Thanks for that!
Word for 2019…..LESS.
We (humanity) have a problem, and perversely it is the cause of all our woes but that which we devote all our abilities to, and it is ‘growth’ or alternatively ‘more’.
Irrespective of our political leanings our models are designed to serve this desire no matter how it is dressed…and it would appear the most effective model to deliver to these desires is market capitalism, but it is not the only participant in the race for more, merely the current leader.
Recent volatility indicates a growing fear of missing out , albeit a subliminal understanding, it is like a rush on supermarket shelves when a shortage is announced or the mayhem at a “Black Friday” sale in the US…..but this is a (fire) sale that we cannot choose to avoid when every government pursues an agenda of growth.
Until we recognise this, design and implement a contrary model we will destroy ourselves for in this world of ‘more’ there is one thing that gets less and less …and that is time.
With a growing population (locally and internationally) I don’t think growth can be avoided.
I’d suggest one way or another it will be….either by choice or imposition. One gives an outside chance of control and success, the other?
“Either by choice or imposition” – is that going to be the new slogan for the Greens?
i doubt any political party would choose to be so blunt, but it dosnt change the facts…..and the imposition is not necessarily human though it may be.
or perhaps it would be better to say…not necessarily political
The facts are the population is growing, thus until that is turned around growth is required. The occurrence of a natural imposition forcing major change is years away. Therefore, I can’t see “less” being the word for 2019.
Moreover, what happened to the goal of trying to achieve sustainable growth?
there is no such thing as sustainable growth in a finite environment….the only relevant factors are the size of the environment and the rate of growth….I dont think anyone can seriously argue that we have reached the limits.
As to a growing population driving growth , while that may have some impact the reality is much of the worlds resources (and the downstream impacts) is wasted on non essentials……reduce the non essentials and more resources are available for the essential….and then theres inequality.
“There is no such thing as sustainable growth…”
Well there is your first hurdle as many believe there is.
“I dont think anyone can seriously argue that we have reached the limits.”
Again, which is why I don’t see “less” being the word for 2019.
However, I agree a lot of resources are wasted on non essentials, thus there will be more publicly acceptable scope for improvement in that regards.
Inequality is a big one to overcome in any transition, less is not a word people that are currently struggling can afford to hear. And having less is not likely to be something the well to do will willingly surrender too.
Our debt based money supply is another (often overlooked) factor driving the need for growth.
“Well there is your first hurdle as many believe there is”
Am well aware its a message that is unlikely to be well received or easy to sell. It remains a message that needs to be expressed however.
“Again, which is why I don’t see “less” being the word for 2019”
That needed to be edited…and wasnt, to read “…have not reached the limits”. And it is ‘aspirational’.
“Inequality is a big one to overcome in any transition, less is not a word people that are currently struggling can afford to hear. And having less is not likely to be something the well to do will willingly surrender too.”
Not only the well to do, though they have more to lose and greater influence…..but again, they have a choice.
“Our debt based money supply is another (often overlooked) factor driving the need for growth.”
Hence…
“Until we recognise this, design and implement a contrary model we will destroy ourselves for in this world of ‘more’ there is one thing that gets less and less …and that is time.”
It may be a message that needs to be expressed but if you can’t sell it and people aren’t willing to take note, it won’t be one that willingly takes hold.
sometimes things develop a life of their own….seeds need to be planted, (and nurtured) and theres quite a bit of unconnected planting happening at the moment.
https://mahb.stanford.edu/
Humanity is ‘wedded to growth’; it’s basic biology/psychology. So much misdirected intelligence, so little wisdom.
This is wisdom:
There are few indications that humanity can collectively imagine or magic its way out of wedded-to-growth messes.
https://archive.org/stream/fe_Ecological_Economics_and_Sustainable_Development-Selected_Essays_of_Herman_Daly/Ecological_Economics_and_Sustainable_Development-Selected_Essays_of_Herman_Daly_djvu.txt
“So far the politicians and economists are so wedded to growth that they insist that economic growth is itself the main characteristic of sustainable development.” – a fine example of magical thinking; our leaders have so many constraints on their imagination.
Totally agree, Drowsy. We are a society largely wedded to growth and there is little sign of that changing anytime soon.
People are lost and don’t know what to do or think, so often don’t think, including you The Chairman and you follow the general RW stance of carefully stamping on any idea until it loses all its puff. If we all stick in your rut with you we will likely find when TSHTF that you have a backdoor sorted for yourself and those you consider worthy. But the trouble is, that your world will be so changed that having further time in the world with the remnants of civilisation, will be a poisoned chalice.
To be honest, greywarshark I believe it was Pat that failed to think this out. I can’t see “less” being the word for 2019. Perhaps at some stage in the future, but not in 2019.
At this stage, even the Greens are still talking about sustainable growth.
Or perhaps I have thought it through a little further than yourself….less is a theme of des gilets jaunes. Less tax on the poorest, less inequality, less hypocrisy, less of the elite….and the yellow vests arnt only in France so maybe ‘less’ will be the word for 2019.
“Less tax on the poorest, less inequality, less hypocrisy, less of the elite…”
You must be joking, right? This Government is supportive of regressive taxes. Are full of hypocrisy and are taking a slow and insufficient approach when it comes to addressing inequality.
Unlike the French, we took our petrol tax hikes rather well, thus I can’t see people with yellow vest hitting the streets here in numbers. Well, not in 2019 anyway.
Isnt the point of the post that what governments are promoting at the moment needs to change?….and the French are old hands at public protest so its not surprising they would be among the first…NZ is a ‘fast follower’…well at least according to Key so I wouldnt write it off.
Theres always a tipping point and politicians have a history of being unable to judge it.
“Isnt the point of the post that what governments are promoting at the moment needs to change?”
Indeed. But you are dreaming if you expect that change to happen here in 2019.
“NZ is a ‘fast follower’…
Ha, I get the impression we are more like the land of Pineapple Lumps.
While there is always a tipping point and politicians have a history of being unable to judge it, we a far from it yet.
Many here still believe Jacinda will deliver. Once the disillusionment sets in, we may then see a tipping point. Then again, the majority may just show their discontent by voting for National or more may not vote at all. People taking to the streets in mass is not something I foresee in this country’s near future.
“I can’t see too many people that are currently struggling to cope as it is asking that question but I can see an increase in the number of those struggling going forward.”
Id suggest that those wearing the yellow vests have already asked and answered that question…..Macron is now deciding the current answer on behalf of the French elite….it wont be the last time .
People taking to the streets is only one method….change is coming whether we choose it or not. A question that will be increasingly asked is how much am i willing to give up to avoid losing everything…that question will hit different people and different societies at different times but its unavoidable.
“Change is coming”
Not in 2019. Well, not the change your are hoping for.
“A question that will be increasingly asked is how much am i willing to give up to avoid losing everything…”
I can’t see too many people that are currently struggling to cope as it is asking that question but I can see an increase in the number of those struggling going forward.
And at this stage, I don’t think there are many that can afford to relinquish feeling as if they are faced with losing it all if they don’t.
The way to go is to understand what can be done now. We have to unerstand and circumvent the wealthy and their running dogs (very communist term that, but i am noticing similarities in capitalism and communism – both attempt to snatch everything for the leaders’ control and advantage).
Great pivoting platforms and leverages going forward Chairperson, I do hope you’re wrong.
I often hope I’m wrong.
Today in the US it’s National Bacon Day.
Gives this feeling when living with a vegetarian. It’s a GIF so just let it sink in while it loads.
https://goo.gl/images/uz6wKV
The perfect gif
It’s John Key!
Yes! His catwalk face
It’s that face he got right after tugging a ponytail.
Yeah the face that only his wife should have to endure.
The links on both of the ‘Ten most…’ posts are acting weird. When I right-click and open in new tab they both open in the new tab and have that page go on to the clicked link. This does not appear to be an issue with Firefox as other pages are working fine.
Actually, maybe it does have something to do with Firefox as it’s not doing it in Chrome.
I am heading up north for a week, so have a happy new year and see everyone in 2019!
For diehards like myself (and mickysavage?), the mystery continues of the continuing leaks from someone in the National caucus despite Jami-lee Ross no longer being a member of the Nat Caucus or Party.
Obviously Chris Trotter is also a diehard in this regard, and yesterday he posted a piece on interest.co.nz which has not appeared on his own blog, Bowalley Road or on The Daily Blog.
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/97532/jami-lee-ross-gone-chris-trotter-wonders-why-national-party-leaks-continue-against
Well worth taking a few minutes to read, Trotter’s article starts with a quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” and then ponders the possibilities …
Any more would be a spoiler so I will leave it at that, other than to say that he has expressed extremely well what I have been thinking but in a much less orderly and rational manner.
AND the comments to date are well worth reading – if only for the contrast in their quality compared for example to those on Stuff articles. I don’t often venture to interest.co.nz but have now bookmarked it for further exploration of existing articles and future ones.
Excellent analysis, & the leaker is the sleeper issue for the new year until another leak wakes everyone up. Trotter’s theorising assumes intelligence in the National camp. Bit of a stretch, that, always.
“If it’s Bridges’ intention simply to act as some sort of Far-Right John the Baptist to Judith Collin’s Messiah, then, from the moderates’ perspective, the sooner he’s politically beheaded the better.”
He’s arguing for the Collins coup not to be delayed till late 2019. Assuming the moderates in National are a credible faction (rather than a vortex of flotsam & jetsam) and will coalesce around a rightist JC semi-plausibly reinvented as a bland moderate. If, in an interview, when asked about any past alignment with Lusk, she replies “Simon who?” she ought to be credited with wit. Journalists would immediately run a plethora of stories claiming it to be a put-down of Bridges.
Until she fronts as that clever, I can’t see caucus moderates being drawn into her orbit – unless she passes Bridges in the preferred PM poll. Nat rats deserting the sinking ship would then tip the balance. Ralston reckons “that Ross has been used by a couple of Machiavellian plotters on the Nats’ periphery to pave the way for Collins to oust Bridges”. Naive. No such leverage from the periphery is ever possible. However, if he means Lusk protégés working with one or more team-builders with current influence on the caucus thinking, the theory is feasible. Seems to me that JLR was indeed set up, but as likely by Bridges working with other leading Nats as by any such Lusk-masterminded operation.
Deeply thoughtful vv. Was that the one where Holmes looked to see if there were limping sheep, having a thought that the favourite for the race could have been knobbled with a small cut to a tendon, and the sheep used for practice so the main job would be perfect.
Yes, but those details are not relevant to Trotter’s specific reference to the conversation between Gregory and Holmes about “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, in particular:
Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
The dog did nothing – eg it did not bark. Why?
Because it was an inside job. There were no strangers and the dog did not bark because it knew the person who took Silver Blaze from its stall and out onto the moor.
That Conan Doyle quote has long been used as a metaphor (?) for inside jobs where the perpetrator may well be “hoist with his/her own petard”. Just to throw in a bit of Shakespeare for what Trotter is intimating in his article. LOL
I wondered whether it had the sheep in it too. I got the bit about the dog that didn’t bark. I wonder if the gang has tried something similar on someone else in the past as a test case?
Go back and read it again – you seem to have not read or ignored almost the entire second half of the article other than the final two paragraphs..
It starts with this teaser (my bold):
Then again, what we have witnessed over the past few months may actually be the preparations for a pre-emptive coup: a blocking move intended to make a Collins takeover impossible. But who could do that? Who possesses the necessary political skills to manoeuvre one poorly performing leader out of his job in order to prevent a colleague determined to shift the National Party sharply to the right from taking his place?
A feasible scenario, but of less import than the others. Why? It requires a level of machiavellian thought I doubt exists within the Nats. We just never get evidence that much happens there above the level of simple-mindedness. I’ve been watching them since the late sixties. The consistency of thought that prevails in National Party culture has always been summed up by their`morons rule, okay?’ mindset.
But hey, if you see evidence of that scenario firming up, I’d be keen for you to share it. Anything other than their usual incompetence would be a pleasant surprise.
Chris Trotter has also been close to the action for many years – probably much closer than you or I as a political commentator. He has shared it as a scenario and I have then shared his thoughts.
IMO you are naive it you think all Nats are simple minded and consistent in their thoughts – and judge them on that singular perception. Machiavellian thought is well within the realms of possibility for some and has been evident over the years – eg how did Key get parachuted in and by whom?
Key told Roughan that he decided to be PM when he was a child. Or maybe he told his mother that, can’t recall. But it’s in the biography. Don’t need Machiavelli. Occam’s razor.
Re Trotter, yeah, no problem apart from the lack of evidence offered. He has to dream up scenarios to make features from. Infotainment is okay.
Yes, Key always wanted to be PM, but the way that he ended up coming back to NZ and being parachuted into the Helensville electorate, etc involved a lot of maginations behind the scenes within National involving people like Michelle Boag etc …
Those moves were certainly not simple-minded, above board maneuvering. Occam’s Razor is not always right.
Racist talking heads spouting diseased foreigners rhetoric, inciting hate, popularising indifference, identification, isolation, mass detention….you’re almost there, ‘Murica….
[…]
“Though Southwest Key is, on paper, a charity, no one has benefited more than Mr. Sanchez, now 71. Serving as chief executive, he was paid $1.5 million last year — more than twice what his counterpart at the far larger American Red Cross made.”
[…]
“Mr. Sanchez is central to the administration’s plans. Southwest Key can now house up to 5,000 children in its 24 shelters, including a converted Walmart Supercenter that has drawn criticism as a warehouse for youths.“
[…]
”The system is nearing a breaking point, with a record 14,000 minors at about 100 sites — a human crisis, but also a moneymaking opportunity.”
https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1079102587985645570
What’s the bet that Mr Sanchez was originally Cuban. The money making elite driven out by the people attempting to shift power there, have carried a deep grudge that they were forced away from their feeding stalls.
The same will happen here if we can make changes. Be prepared for hard times.
But… But, profit always brings about Good Things – the economists told us so.
Pretty sad when the most intelligent television commentary
comes from a right wing host on Fox News.
As Jimmy Dore says, “If Tucker Carlson can get it right, then you should get it right, too. You should be embarrassed that Tucker Carlson asks questions that you won’t.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9QOVk0x1Vw
Dore’s the comedian who admitted that until last week, he knew nothing about Rojava and YPG Kurds.
/
https://youtu.be/_QoUYP7gU1I?t=100
I suspect there’s a lot more to the Kurds than our own hopeful projections
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/28/syria-withdrawal-kurds-pkk/
https://www.thenation.com/article/americas-favorite-syrian-militia-rules-with-an-iron-fist/
Over the years Dore’s
made dozens of videosmonetised Syrian suffering with titles like Truth about Syria etc, but his ignorance about the plight of Rojava and YPG Kurds makes it pretty damn clear that disingenuous prick never really bothered researching the issue.of course he has
Thats what they all do
Entertainment and click bait Serious journalists who do the hard yards and research are the ones to read, even if you don’t always like what they say
They’re a distinct people trying for a degree of self-determination spread among four different nasty authoritarian regimes, with some sort of war going on involving them for most of those people’s lifetimes. That’s quite a shitty situation to be in. So it’s not entirely surprising some of their ways of dealing with that are in turn shitty as well.
That observation isn’t excusing the shittiness, it’s just acknowledgement of shitty realities. And it’s good reason to be sympathetic and helpful towards their self-determination goals.
But yeah, anyone holding Rojava up as some sort of paragon to be aspired to is either deluded or in possession of some pretty shitty values and priorities themselves.
The thing, to me, about Tucker is hes a smart on to it guy, he knows what hes talking about but he spends far too much time hosting nutters on his show
Yeah its fun watching him dismantle the loons but its easy, low hanging fruit so its good to watch him stretch himself a bit
Spouting white supremacist claptrap about immigrants making America poorer and dirtier will have consequences.
He’ll be gone soon enough.
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1075943331799199744
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/dec/18/tucker-carlson-immigrants-poorer-dirtier-advertisers-pull-out
I rate Tucker as one of the best question askers there is.
Antifa who attacked his home are LWNJ who Trump correctly said are as bad as the White racists.
Jesus, you are actually stupid.
MEMO EDITORS:
Are there no checks on what this fool says?
What was wrong with what I said? Can you explain, no!
I’ll try.
Tucker is good at his job. You may not like him because he works for Fox but that’s irrelevant.
Antifa are an organised group of cowards who cover there faces, and use violence to oppress other people. There arguments get destroyed by people like Tucker, so since there ideas are mostly worthless they resort to violence to get there way. They especially hate free speech, a modus operandi of the radical left. Attacking a persons home because Tucker can so easily mock them was this years most childish act of protest. If they took there masks off, had some signs, and used no violence, and didn’t flee before the police arrived, then they might have had a tiny bit of credibility. They have none.
The KKK and their offshoot the Black Legion are way worse than Antifa will ever be. They used to actually kill black men for even looking at white women. Kill them. 30000 blacks were lynched by the KKK from the 1870’s to the 1960’s, and we now have Trump who wants to encourage that activity again. But you condone that behavior.
You think black civil rights activists are the equivalent of the KKK.
You’re a moron.
Morrissey
I thought that is the opposite of what he said. Your reply does not fit the context.
So apologise.
The Black Legion was an authoritarian, quasi-military organization, which forced discipline upon its heavily-armed members by initiating them at the point of a gun and threatening death if they ever disclosed the secrets of the group to outsiders. To join the organization, a person had to swear that he was a white, native-born, Protestant American citizen and agree to take up arms, when called upon, against the group’s enemies.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/black-legion
Carlson was lying but hey, the bow-tied coxcomb lies for a living.
https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/tucker-carlson-protest-twitter/
But in the interview with that hapless ex-Obama underling, Carlson was not lying—apart from when he smoothly claimed that Israel was democratic.
Another Tucker, critique by Dore.
He also comments, contrary to Joe90 at 9.1.1.1 that he has been de-monetised.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DbQB1EQ32CE
We don’t really understand what’s under the hood in this:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1812/S00292/progressive-alternatives-needed-as-failed-tppa-model-enters.htm
But a little non beltway cause and effect analysis could suggest at heart it is a architecture for the systemic creation of black markets on a global scale, exposing ill-equiped societal institutions to organised crime syndicates.
A changing of the guard from that of the political rorting classes to those of mafia type extortion in the body politic.
Political economy is never satiated, it never has enough, & even when the bountiful garden is transformed into a disease festering mud sludge, it will still be demanding more like nothing has changed!!
What’s so difficult to understand? Prof Kelsey demonstrates that she doesn’t understand democracy yet again. Simple. Dunno where you get all that mafioso stuff from!
Will the alt-trade initiative she discusses turn out to be just as ephemeral as Sue Bradford’s leftist think-tank? Probably. But I hope not. We need a credible alternative to the pragmatic neoliberalism the coalition is using.
But Prof Kelsey has good points. She is saying that we aren’t proceeding democratically isn’t she? That we are being forced into a corner with these trade agreements.
The way representative democracy was designed to operate is for electors to elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf. When a majority of these form a govt, that govt therefore puts democracy into practice via legislation.
Which is precisely what has happened with the modified TPPA. What part does Kelsey continue to fail to get?? And why try to spin democratic decision-making as being forced into a corner? Is she really that keen to get a public reputation for being delusional? I marched against the thing, but as soon as the Herald published their editorial pointing out that the secret lawyer tribunal that decided in favour of Exxon, when the govt of Ecuador penalised them for failing to clean up their jungle pollution, had been unable to enforce the judgment, I agreed with the Herald that paranoia was unnecessary. Reality has since then continued to prove that the thing has no teeth. Kelsey prefers paranoia to reality, obviously, but I see no reason to agree that bad mental health ought to be contagious…
Well said, Dennis. I had just started drafting a reply to you that had got as far as the quote below when I decided I had wasted too much time here today already and to leave it and get outside.
So “snap” in terms of the last para above and your first para.
I could write volumes on the subject of trade generally, older style trade agreements, the more recent ones etc but won’t go there today. I grew up as the child of a NZ Trade Commissioner and we lived overseas for my teen years in that capacity; I then went on to similar forms of government jobs involving international govt interaction on specific areas I will not go into.
But fresh air time. Happy New Year.
I think you are onto it. The power base in government has been corrupted, it is full of minor princelings who love their money, the women who never were feminists but have jumped with alacrity into moneyed, prominent positions, they see things along efficiency and class lines. There isn’t much integrity there, it is staying in power, and playing the credulous, incurious or value-bereft society like a fisherman with multi-hook lines.
When Jeremy Corbyn becomes P.M. it will be like this.
Thirty years ago, they predicted the tiresome and absurd smears about being a Russian agent, and even the bitching about him choosing to travel second class on the train…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACg6IuFfMJE
This Brian Eno thinkpiece was on TS a decade on, but in case anyone misses it I am putting it here also. I like his thinking. What is your feeling? (3 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-53tzx69fM
Something I don’t like – nasty flesh eating bug and the medical establishment in Australia doesn’t see to know enough about it apart from its name.
Cases are also getting more severe, leading to larger wounds that can take longer than a year to heal.
“It’s got a toxin that actually does three things,” explained Associate Professor Daniel O’Brien from Barwon Health.
“One is dissolve flesh.
“A second thing is it produces is an anaesthetic agent so a lot of the time, especially early on, patients don’t feel it.
“The third thing is it actually paralyses the immune system.”
The flesh-eating bacteria, Mycobacterium ulcerans, is related to the infection that causes leprosy.
It stays dormant in an infected person for months before a wound starts to bulge.
“It is an aggressive disease that’s not easy to treat,” Dr O’Brien said.
“It’s not your usual bacteria, so normal antibiotics don’t work….
Over several weeks, it swells into a much larger and more obvious red bulge.
Eventually, the skin breaks open, exposing a raw and pus-filled wound that continues to grow.
This is how a Buruli ulcer forms, the result of flesh-eating bacteria that is infecting hundreds of Victorians.
“It was really scary,” university student Jacinta Mazzarella said. “I was really worried I might lose my limb.”
Several months ago, the 18-year-old developed a Buruli ulcer that was bigger than an Australian 50-cent coin on her left ankle…
“I couldn’t work because I wasn’t allowed to stand on it for a long period of time, so I had a good four, five months off,” she said.
“I’m a dancer – I had to stop dancing.”
Fortunately, medical advancements have meant treatments are much more effective than in the past, and Ms Mazzarella’s skin is starting to heal after extensive medical care….
Over the past four years, the annual number of infections reported in Victoria has almost quadrupled.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/379250/buruli-ulcer-is-infecting-hundreds-of-victorians-and-doctors-don-t-know-why
Here’s one that put a smile on my dial. I’ve posted it before but some may have missed it, so here it is again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afl9WFGJE0M
Although Labour failed to reduce GP fees down to $8 as announced in their election campaign, they have nonetheless lower them.
The question now is are they going to also lower prescription fees?
A colleague visited the doctor the other day and was charged $18.50. They were then charged $30 for their prescription. While some may think $48.50 in total isn’t much, for those struggling it can be a major setback. It certainly put a dent in their Christmas. Therefore, it would be good to know if Labour are also working on getting these costs down too?
Now is also a good time to remember those who have passed on. Armed Offenders Bloke, Psycho Milk, MalcolmInTHeMiddle to name a few.
What happened to One Anonymous Bloke? – I liked his commentary.
OAB was invariably on the money but one or two moderators didn’t seem to like his style. He copped a few bans and after the last one he never returned.
Same with Psycho Milt.
Yes me too. One of the kindest commenters too.
Dude’s still got lottsa snark.
https://twitter.com/1anonymousbloke
Good he’s still going. What about weka? Is she back tweeting regular.
Āe.
https://twitter.com/wekatweets
https://twitter.com/search?q=%40wekatweets&src=typd
The price of tobacco is set to increase again tomorrow. Increasing the fiscal hardship for smokers and no doubt spurring more violence and crime.
When will we put an end to this madness?
Time to stop smoking perhaps. The madness ends quickly after that.
You don’t have to be a smoker to be negatively impacted by this madness.
Ever had your house, workplace or car burgled? Ever had a knife pulled on you and money demands put on you on the street?
Think of the shop owners and their staff and how many of them have been harmed or killed. Think of the children that have been and are likely to be caught up in a shop holdup.
“Ever had your house, workplace or car burgled? Ever had a knife pulled on you and money demands put on you on the street?”
Shit didn’t think things had got so bad – freaking pulling a knife because of tobacco – ffs I gave up smoking no point holding me up.
Seems you are out of touch, Marty. Things are bad out there and this madness will only worsen it.
Even more reason to get them off the ciggies – maybe a much bigger increase would help them even more to quit.
The continual increases in price are apparently having diminishing results in encouraging people to give up, marty.
In recent months, there has been quite a lot of publicity and calls for this approach to be dropped or relooked at due to the unintended consequences of increased attacks etc on shop keepers etc.
The approach is also seen as out of step etc with the approach to alcohol sales – and more lately, to the moves towards decriminalisation etc of cannabis.
Big subject so above is pretty rough but one for discussion another day.
Not about to search links etc out today!
Yes a big subject.
I’m sure various links could be put up from all sides.
Diminishing returns are expected with this approach.
I’ve read plenty this year about the attacks and what not – anyone being robbed is horrible.
Put the price up and get an increase in robberies is a bit simplistic for me – I think many more variables are in the mix AND that doesn’t diminish the impact of this factor of price.
So a wide approach across a broad front with support and help available and a continued incremental price increase is a plan I like.
There is no law that says people should be allowed to smoke – things change.
I gave up 2 years ago because of price.
Tax increases are no cure for addiction, Marty.
However, it may lead to more beating their partner due to the related stress it will create, but you won’t see too many reports highlighting that.
On the bright side, less stubbing out on skin cherry. Swings and roundies.
When there’s thousands behind the counter, and pennies in the till, guess what happens.
Isn’t the till behind the counter too? It should be otherwise it’s just asking for trouble.
The most famous till in the world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UceoLeW8GoA
Nurse Gladys Emmanuel!
I don’t think he ever got to even kiss her.
The nearest he came was to wait outside the house at night in the hope she forgot to close the bedroom curtains and he might catch a glimpse of her undressing for bed.
Priceless comedy.
My father was a corner grocer from when I was five. I loved using our cash drawer but wanted a proper till à la Arkwright for Christmas. Santa visited our store and I told him i wanted a till. The poor old gent became very hard of hearing until my mother appeared after about three increasingly louder versions of “I want a TILL”!
Surprisingly, he then understood me, I got a little red till for Christmas to play shops with, and an increased understanding about life from then on………
Now I too am a store Santa in the season and get very hard of hearing sometimes.
A great Christmas story thanks mac1. Santa is very important to us all, encouraging us to think of others, to turn towards children and bring some fun and a ritual that is positive into their lives. The commercialisation and stress is because the trend has been away from that, to what’s in it for ‘me’.
When tobacco is reclassified as a class A drug.
Little will have his hands full reducing prison numbers and taxpayers will be gutted at the high cost of imprisoning them.
It’s a health issue, hence time we treat it as one.
Tobacco is already a crime issue as you note.
Marijuana will in time be just as regulated, with tax and with access. The referendum in 2020 will propose declasdafication.
commodification comes next.
The buying and selling, consumption and possession of tobacco products is not a crime. Users are generally addicted, which makes it a health problem.
What I noted was crime related to the soaring cost due to the continued tax hikes.
It wouldn’t surprise me that the Government plans to tax it hard, but unlike tobacco, the marijuana black market is well established, which will make it extremely difficult for the Government to compete if they tax it too hard.
i was agreeing with you.
i’m sure you can follow that.
this government is already preparing a rationale for higher taxes on (future) legalised marijuana even if non-smoked marijuana is less addictive than smoked.
it is doing that by preparing enforcement regimes through the Police showing risk of public harm while driving influenced. Nash will take this to Select Committee first quarter.
this also responds to Nick Smith’s citizen petition on road deaths caused ny drugged drivers.
this comm9n harm rationale sets up the regulatory equivalence between tobacco and marijuana.
Are there tests that can explicitly show a driver is under the influence and is not merely showing they have consumed it sometime in the past week or month? And are the Government planning on introducing these tests as part of this new enforcement regime?
yes and yes.
that is what will be brought to Select Committee.
Yes there are, TC. Saliva based testing gives a snapshot of recent use (hours, rather than days). However, the standard for saliva testing at evidential level has not yet been approved. That should happen in the next few months and it will impact on workplace testing as well.
Sarah Leamon (a Vancouver lawyer specializing in cannabis law) said “the bottom line is that all of these devices don’t have any reflection on the level of impairment at all when it comes to the subject of the test”
https://www.straight.com/cannabis/1116586/saliva-tests-cannabis-wont-provide-accurate-depiction-impaired-driving#
Seems Labour may have to rethink this, bet they won’t.
You are correct that Labour won’t rethink this. It’s nothing to do with them. It’s a statutory body that sets the guidelines, not the Government. There is widespread acceptance in the testing industry that saliva is the way to go as it is more accurate in showing impairment, rather than historical use. However, those wedded to the profits to be made from urine based testing are dead against.
What it comes down to is whether we are testing for safety reasons or because we like to punish people for their lifestyle choices. I can tell you that NZ employers are over the moral argument; they just want good, safe employees who turn up for work. What the workers do in the weekends is no longer the issue.
“What the workers do in the weekends is no longer the issue.”
It is when they are being tested by a device that is unfit for purpose.
It seems these testing devices don’t indicate any reflection on the level of impairment. Therefore, showing someone smoked a joint on Sunday night doesn’t mean they are impaired, thus unfit for work (or to drive) the following morning. Hence, it’s far from fair and just, thus Government shouldn’t support it.
They literally do show the level of impairment. That’s the point of them and why they are superior for evidential purposes. I’d prefer we simply don’t test at all, but if we are going to do it, then best we go for the most accurate devices.
“There is no one blood or oral fluid concentration that can differentiate impaired and not impaired,” says Marilyn Huestis, who spent over 20 years leading cannabinoid-related research projects at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-01/cp-dar011818.php
I’m guessing Labour will try and get around this by creating limits for THC levels in oral fluid concentration. This is essentially a legal shortcut that will allow police to lay an impaired driving charge based on a driver’s oral fluid concentration level, without actually having to prove impairment.
While police already use limits for alcohol impairment, blood alcohol concentration has been shown to have a close, predictable link to impairment. The same is simply not true of saliva testing and blood THC levels, and this is where things become underhanded and unjust.
So that is top of the list to do. This cannabis thing has gone on for years; far too long. Let’s do all that is needed to get a sensible thoroughgoing system in place without room for doubters and ditherers to put their spoke in.
Evidence-based thinking. That is a term i have heard is regarded as best practice. It might be the right way to go in dealing with cannabis in all its issues, which are so clouded with emotion and its history. It would be better than listening to all those who can think of a thousand reasons not to do something. Result, nothing settled and achieved and we can never move on, and the undealt with matters of importance to our lives linger around and cause so much pain that is totally avoidable.
If tobacco were to be reclassified as a class A drug, wouldn’t we then have to compensate the tobacco companies?
legal precedent where?
Tobacco companies have sought compensation before when their returns have been threaten. Therefore, surely they would seek compensation over this proposal?
they keep losing in court.
The costs (tax) of smoking has far exceeded compensating the Crown for costs.
Cullen declined increasing tax on tobacco as he said the Crown already recovered costs. Less superannuation etc.
Presently smokers are being ripped off.
Smokers are financially compensating healthcare for other industries like sugar.
Smokers are charged for the cost of healthcare in ordinary taxes, then pay more than full health insurance in descriminatory taxes. They pay more than twice, but only die once.
Health nuts that live to 90, need rest homes, healthcare, super etc for much longer, cost us a fortune and don’t pay there fair share of taxes. Hypocricy.
And to top it off, smoking prevalence is higher among those with lower socioeconomic status.
It’s a regressive tax largely hurting the poor. And the damage (stress and fiscal hardship) it bears down upon families and individuals is largely unreported.
If the tax helps more poor people than rich ones give up smoking, its outcome is progressive in health and social terms.
Clearly, for them (the poor that quit) it will be. But that overlooks the impact for those that don’t. And of course, the wider ramifications.
That’s funny logic or not really logic at all.
You want to punish those that could quit because some won’t quit?
Not at all. Hence, the “funny logic” is all yours.
Yep so no logic then as I noted.
When every stupid idiot stops smoking?
Isn’t that the day that will never come? Akin to the day we totally stop other forms of drug use?
Aren’t you supposed to be focusing on the roads while those billboards are up cherry?
My focus on the roads was more related to Labour’s failure to deliver a 4 lane expressway. And yes, National failed to deliver on it as well. Which just reaffirms they both suck.
Our “cheerie” Chairman and Pete George have a similar “footprint”. They both clothe their antipathy for Labour in a cloak of reasonableness.
“failure to deliver a 4 lane expressway”
and a pony.
Like this one!
Followed up by Mrs Doyle who is as persistent as a National Party political female. And at the back is an example of a a male polly past his use-by date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG0QKaaLTCE
2018 seems to be ending with the sound of reality sucking the rug out from underneath Trump. “Right-wing columnist Ann Coulter – author of In Trump We Trust – recently predicted he will not be re-elected. “Without a wall, he will only be remembered as a small cartoon figure who briefly inflamed and amused the rabble,” she wrote.”
“The idea of a concrete wall on the US-Mexico border was dropped early on Donald Trump’s presidency, his outgoing chief of staff John Kelly says.” https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/379276/mexico-wall-trump-aide-says-concrete-wall-idea-was-dropped-early-on
“Before leaving, he gave a rare interview to the LA Times, published on Sunday, in which he called the role a “bone-crushing hard job”. “To be honest, it’s not a wall,” Mr Kelly said, when asked about plans for the border. The former Marine Corps general was initially appointed as Mr Trump’s homeland security secretary before becoming chief of staff in July 2017. As soon as he did so, he told the LA Times, he sought advice from those who “actually secure the border”.”
All in all, it’s just another non-brick in the non-wall – Kelly reckons steel slats are the current plan (so the guards can see through). “Trump has tweeted the term “wall” 59 times this month alone.” Gotta keep them rednecks fixated on their dream. Trump has a mandate from voters to build the wall, but cannot give voters what they want until Congress agrees on the funding. And, as Coulter reminded us, voters means rabble.
Stalemate in the haggling process has caused Trump to threaten to close the border. Both Democrats and Republicans tacitly agree that a partial govt shutdown is better than deciding on the amount of expenditure. Neither has been honest enough to explain this to voters/rabble. Agreeing on the wall budget would give voters/rabble the result they elected Trump to produce. Both parties insist the current sham is better than real democracy.
Kid from Remuera gets knighthood: “Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt KNZM (born 19 February 1947) is a New Zealand politician.” Doesn’t say left-wing. Karl Marx was the name of his concrete mixer (the one that he towed behind the mayoral car in ’83). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Shadbolt
He was “editor of Craccum in 1972. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he became prominent in the Progressive Youth Movement, a radical left-wing organisation, and was arrested 33 times during political protests”. One News re-ran a selection of shots of young Tim in rabble-rousing mode from the early seventies.
Reminds us that saying bullshit in public was illegal back then. Tell that to younger generations now and I bet they refuse to believe you. Try it.
“In the 1996 general election he stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.” Ah, but will he campaign for legalisation in 2020?
went to Southland and built community for multiple decades.
its an all-consuming job.
tim has earned it.
Yay, Tim!
Sir.
“primus inter pares – the first among equals.”
http://www.bryangould.com/no-more-one-man-bands/
Everything;
Nation – Kiwi – Fern – Black Cap – Sailing – New Zealand – All Black – Triumph – Loss
Has nothing to do with me
I have no influence or control over the outcomes
I have no right to bask in the glory of the success of individual or minor collectives
Just like every other entity bounded by this coastline
Most are deluded
Born here – by accident – like all.
New Zealander ?
WTF