But in 2002 Ms Pullar suffered life-changing head injuries in a bicycle accident the day before she was due to complete a $22 million project for a client. She will never be able to work again at the high level she did before the accident.
There but for the grace of fate go I. I’m grateful I only suffered permanent injuries to a limb in my accident. Head injuries must be devastating and very hard to adjust to the life change.
Ha, so that ‘ explains’ the multimillion insurance claim.
I was interested that tv3 ran keys mangled comment about an enquiry. I did not understand the words. It is the first time i have heard him so bad. I wonder if it would have been played last term?
I think her injury has genuinely handicapped a potenitally stellar career. I did wonder, given her contacts, why she had continued to have problems with ACC, and then realised that most of her time as a long-term claimant has been under a Labour Government. Labour also set targets for reducing what ACC described as the “tail” of “stock”, and vulnerable groups, such as those with head injuries, repetitive strain injuries, those with modest means and few social advantages etc. were soft targets in the culls.
I suspect Pullar would have managed this situation discretely and to her best advantage (as well as that of her class) if she was less affected by her injury, or if National had been in power throughout the period of incapacity.
It would be good for people to know the cause of Ms Pullar’s injury ie that it was in a biking accident. I get annoyed at the constant drone from greenies about everyone getting out cars and biking because its so good for the planet. Yes. But for the individual, it can be very unsafe and some on bikes don’t seem to have the cautionary control of a toddler or any consideration for pedestrians comfort. Everywhere belongs to them, road, footpaths, footpaths in parks, green lawns in parks, berms, any space they can whisk through between walkers.
I get annoyed at the constant drone from greenies about everyone getting out cars and biking because its so good for the planet. Yes. But for the individual, it can be very unsafe and some on bikes don’t seem to have the cautionary control of a toddler
What angers me most is that they don’t frickin’ wear helmets! A good example of the sheer selfish nature of some cyclists is the 35 year old man who came whizzing, helmetless, across Carrington Road outside Unitec, and down the street on the footpath, missing me by millimetres as he zoomed past me. I called out “idiot!” and he turned around, poked his tongue, screamed an insult about old ladies clogging up the footpath, ‘flipped me the bird’ as I believe the American expression is, and rode on laughing.
Cycles are not legally allowed on footpaths. Many cyclists have told me that the law says they are allowed to not wear helmets if they ride on the footpath. So I made a point of checking with the police. (Who won’t enforce their own law even if an offender is pointed out to them as they are just too damned lazy).
Cycling on footpaths is illegal.
Riding helmetless is illegal.
There is a cycle path on Carrington Road! There’s a big brass plaque pointing that fact out. It’s still ignored even by the Greenie tarts on bikes (I mean frocks on bikes isn’t it? One of them cycles around here, too proud of her expensive hair-do to wear a helmet.)
Footpaths are for pedestrians, and with the Segar Ave residence for people with cerebral palsy and Rehab + for brain injured people both off Carrington Road, wheel chair users.
In a radio interview with I think a Compensation lawyer about 3 weeks ago, he said that it was quite common for brain injury people to become obsessional about matters especially as it relates to the accident. (Cannot remember where the interview was though it had to be National Radio.)
Nothing when you let the poacher play the part of the gamekeeper also, exactly the same culture that sees top execs pay scream away from average workers at a blistering speed and still get bonuses even when organisations don’t perform.
If Treasury was paid on actual performance that would be interesting.
Still, as always the Shonkey fanboy and lacking in credibility. The swipe at Labour shows what a shill he is…..focus on the issue JA which isn’t the opposition it’s the stench of NACT corruption the extractor fans aren’t coping with anymore.
And even National supporter Fran O’Sullivan, thinks that Mr Key should clear the air and set up an enquiry:
John Key faces a stern test: Does he order a full inquiry into how ACC has managed all the privacy issues in the Bronwyn Pullar affair or sweep it aside in a misguided attempt to avert more reputational damage to his own party?……
If Key wants to preserve the integrity of his own Government, he will opt for the former.
The gloss is or seems to be coming off the teflon from O’Sullivan’s more recent columns, but I remain sceptical in view of her blinkered idolism of the last three years or so. Still, good to see her supporting the call for a full enquiry.
Her support for Collins in this latest column is possibly an attempt to appease her remarks in her column last weekend when (in my honest opinion….) she virtually landed Collins in it re the leaking of Boag’s email:
Any Cabinet minister sitting in “The Crusher’s” shoes – particularly a politician with as strong an instinct for self-preservation as Collins has – would quickly have worked out the impact of Boag’s email was they were also likely to be dragged into the same mud-pool which subsequently swallowed Nick Smith.
The ACC Minister would quickly have reached the conclusion that all Boag’s email did was to compromise her.
Hence she sent it to the ACC .
Collins’ fingerprints will not be directly attached to the copy of the Boag email that was later leaked to the Herald on Sunday.
Lol – Was wondering who would be first to respond…good consistancy points Bloke!
Loving continued use of “climate denier” as some sort of insult..I’m sure DB is very worried what you might think about his credentials. What classifies as “denier” status, so far as you are concerned?
Its kind of like how you dont understand the world of money laundering, and therefore nor do I. I only give an opinion on things which I know about!
Actually I understood what you were saying just fine, the fact you had no idea what you were talking about is quite arrogant . and still provides me entertainment because you keep trying anyway…as does you not answering a question yet again, but let’s just label it all conspiracy theory in case I’m wrong, and my large online ego collapses inward!
It’s possible to have an open mind without your brains falling out…in case you were going to repeat that , yet again!
And it doesn’t take much googling and critical thinking to realise that not only is that book a giant pile of shit, but also that Bellamy has transformed into the classical crackpot scientist, which is what happens when the D-K Effect hits a scientist outside of their field. Particularly as they get older…
Fortunately it’s a fairly rare condition, but thanks the media’s blindspot when it comes to science, crackpots like Bellamy are given plently of unwarranted positive attention.
This is not because conservatives are a bunch of undereducated yahoos. In fact, quite the opposite:
Conservatives with high school degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and graduate degrees all experienced greater distrust in science over time….In addition…conservatives with college degrees decline more quickly than those with only a high school degree []. These results are quite profound, because they imply that conservative discontent with science was not attributable to the uneducated but to rising distrust among educated conservatives.
I suppose the question then becomes: Just where did those delusional conservatives get their degrees?
The government try to tell us that the increased spending is because councils are out of control and wasting money in areas they have no business being in, and that they’re proposing these changes to force councils to get back to core business.
This is a lie.
The National government will try to tell spin it, they’ll say that the problem is that councils are wasting money supporting festivals, public swimming pools, running social programmes, and on providing local art and culture.
How do I know they’ll do this? Because they’ve already started.
Yep, NACT already caught lying in support of the their plan to decrease local democracy.
What should be evidently clear to even the dimmest of bulbs is the following.
There is a concerted effort globally , has been for decades to consolidate nations, via unions, treaties and agreements. Locally we see the efforts being focussed two fold, TPPA which will bind us internationally even further, and the Auckland Super City, which was of course the pilot scheme to be rolled out nationally. One can hear the calls. and see it in action via the attempts to legislate from Wellington.
It is much “simpler” to control small numbers, so once you have consolidated the globe, EU/NAFTA/TPPA etc and removed sovereignty, well it becomes rather open to speculation at that stage. The cities must not be weasled into submission by the criminal government, whose agenda is crystal clear!
It depends on what you think ‘educated’ means. If you’ve ever seen how many creationists there are in first-year biology courses at university, you will know what I mean.
There are plenty of ‘educated’ people who go into university with a closed mind and leave the same way they came in. They give the expected answers in order to pass the exams, but they don’t believe any of it. Their faith takes precedence.
Is there not another woman in the Puller medley – the employee in ACC who released the list to Puller, and is it possible may have had a greater involvement than currently perceived.
It appears from media stories that she may have had unauthorised access to the Puller files, as she apparently had been tracked having some form of access.
There must be a greater inquiry than Privacy Commissioner.
It appears that he thinks that by having an inquiry by the Privacy Commissioner will be enough. The problem is though the can of worms has been opened and they are fast slithering towards other matters far outside the nice little boxes that thinks he has under his control.
A full open independent inquiry needs to be held by individuals that are in no way remotely associated with this government as there are already rumors of cronyism and corruption beginning to surface. Did we not learn any thing about deception from Nicky Hager and the Hollow Men.
Well Fortan . Its hard to believe that these files were sent to an active National supporter by accident is it not? The whole thing stinks of Tory sleaze and money grabbing, Mone and power the cement in the National Party,
Funny…I hold New Zealand citizenship, but when I open my mouth and speak it’s obvious that I wasn’t born and raised here. Maybe nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand I get asked if I’m Canadian.
‘Nope, not Canadian. I’m from California.’
‘Oh, erm…well, look at the time…see ya.’
I’m definitely not a rah-rah ‘Go Team America’ kind of person. I find jingoism repulsive. Yet, the fact that I have US nationality somehow means to many people here that I am whatever stereotype they hold when it comes to Americans.
I think maybe in the future I’ll say, ‘Oh yeah…maple syrup and hockey, you betcha, eh.’ That seems to put the locals at ease.
Look at the bright side, happynz – you get to sift through the idiots faster. 1:1000 is a pretty good hit rate, there are potential social prejudices here that will jump that up to 1:100,000, accent, citizenship, or not. Welcome to NZ.
The Air Force have worked hard to put on this Ohakea show and 50-60,000 expected to pay for attendance. Two people who couldn’t manage to drive safely have managed to stuff that up.
The government will be paying for their injury management, for road management, and the losses caused by this crash to the Air Force. Plus there is the cost financial and in wellbeing and in time to people stuck on the road and others wishing to move through the area on their own business. The motor cyclist has head injuries. If he lives it is likely that he’ll require intensive care for much of his life.
It is very sad and unsatisfactory. I believe that all car drivers should have to carry some personal liability insurance and that hospitals should be able to charge for emergency care, not all of it, but on a set scale so that some of the costs of road accidents can be recovered. Many of them are not accidents at all they are examples of malfunctioning immature carelessness. Keeping idiots off the road would be good. Identifying the most likely to meet this term would not be hard, and the number of accidents would plummet. Cutting alcohol outlets and hours would help too but there isn’t the strength of opinion for this enough to sway the pollies.
Nope. Insurance, maybe. But hospitals charging for admission? Hell no.
It’s hard enough getting people to see their GP. Putting a cost barrier on emergency rooms ill result in delays until the problem is deemed serious enough by the patient to consider professional care, and by that time it might be too late.
“In the UK and US, the financial sector is booming, while the world of normal people seems to be going from bad to worse, unemployment is high, businesses are folding and house foreclosures are still taking place. Wall Street and Main Street might as well be existing on different planets. And this is in large part because banks are still not lending money to the people. In the UK and US, banks have captured all the money from the taxpayers and the cheap money from quantitative easing from central banks. They are using it to shore up, and clean up their balance sheets rather than lend it to the people. The money has been hijacked by the banks, and our governments are doing absolutely nothing about that. In fact, they have been complicit in allowing this to happen.”
Which is true, private mega corporations got a lot richer and more power via the bailouts while the majority of people got poorer and less powerful. But what’s really interesting is the sentences at the end of the article:
If the word “nationalize” sounds un-American, think “publicly-owned and operated for the benefit of the public,” like public libraries, public parks, and public courts. We need to get our dollars out of Wall Street and back on Main Street, and we can do that only by and we can do that only by breaking up our out-of-control private banking monopoly and returning control over money and credit to the people themselves.
Which is what a few of us here have been saying for the last few years. The private banking system is the biggest problem we face and the only way we can bring it under control is to nationalise it.
Since Bradford has so many of the social issues associated with high unemployment, and also the clarity that the proletariat discover when they make an attempt to halt the demise of their communities themselves, I wonder if this isn’t going to be the beginning of a particularly nasty battle for them – even though they have the representation they want.
I don’t know a whole lot about Galloway myself; I was first introduced to his rhetoric when he took on the government over the disappearance of certain funds during the Iraq invasion. If ever there was person qualified to fight the kind of battle that I see blowing Bradford’s way, it would be him, he’s a skilled scraper for sure. But there was also another side, admittedly these are stories from unsympathetic media sources, that was as dodgy as any politician, anywhere. The problem I see coming is that the groups that have tried to assist (we’ll be generous and say “assist”) Bradford’s social issues aren’t all of the left-leaning persuasion, and as Torys believe, if you take their support and don’t then pay it back by accepting their world view, thereby perpetuating your demise, just slower, they withdraw all the support and go on the attack. It’s not a reason to fold, or give up, but it is a concern.
But if we take Galloway and the context of Bradford out of the picture, it is uncanny how the sentiment of the article mirrors our own nation’s issues over the past few months. If we then drop in the same concerns I see happening, it is a warning that just winning an election is only the start of the work. The battle, for real, starts immediately after that – and the opponent isn’t going to be beaten easily. Real change is the only option, none of the tinkering of the last 30 odd years.
It does look like the right wing dominance in media and politics, via the neoliberal narrative, is weakening here and abroad e.g. Murdock’s fall from grace etc.
But I wonder if Sean Plunket has any comments on Galloway’s success in Bradford, or he will show the same avoidance behaviour he demonstrated in 2010:
Among the responses made by Mr Galloway are these:
• “I’m stunned that such a collection of inaccuracies and downright lies, larded by overt bias, can be broadcast in New Zealand.”
• “I’m not virulently anti-American [as claimed by Mr Plunket]… It’s their foreign policy I ‘virulently’ oppose.”
• Mr Plunket’s allegation that Viva Palestina is “all about the fall of the capitalist system” is labelled by Mr Galloway as “piffle, poppycock and utterly preposterous”.
• In response to Mr Plunket’s inference that the last Viva Palestina land convoy was turned away by Egypt, Mr Galloway states: “It successfully crossed into Gaza through Rafah after first a stand-off with Egyptian security forces and then an attack by them. The aid and vehicles were successfully delivered. Only coming out of Gaza was I seized and then deported.”
• “Instead of defaming me behind my back Plunket could have put these wild allegations to my face. I invite him to do that now in a TV interview if he has the stomach for it.”
Galloway has a bit of a Hone Harawira kind of relationship with the MSM, followed by electoral success standing on a left wing platform.
Did a Labour Party MP accidentally rumble the new fish and chip club 2014 in David Shearers office last month?
Did the club consist of Pagani, Shearer, Parker, Nash and a well known right wing strategist?
Did the Labour Party MP complain about the strategist being in Shearer’s office?
What happened to the complaint?
Obviously there is more to come, but this really doesn’t surprise me. Another twist in Labour’s death spiral. The right is happy for Labour to win the next election in its present configuration. With a dearth of suitable candidates to replace Key, NACT has settled on a suitable replacement; David Shearer.
The Bye election result in Bradford West UK is interesting and could well be a warning to our own Labour Party.A far Left candidate has won in a landslide in a “safe Labour seat. Tories whacked and the LibDems totally defeated .This could well be a caution to NZ labour not to move further to the centre or to the Right. If we are to recover those non-voters from the last election we need to start thinking more Left not Right or the Bradford result may well happen here .Take not Labour leaders now.
I agree, pink postman, especially when you look at Bradford alongside the Queensland rout. I think that Labour Parties who agree to be semi-tories so as to get corporate dollars to fight elections are doomed – the pendulum has swing too far.
I suppose you could just have a wee sleep after telling it where you want to end up. My Grandfather had a system like that. He would roll out of the pub, climb up the seat on the gig and say,”Home Neddie.” Then drop off for a little snooze. Chaff didn’t cost much either.
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Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Within quick succession, Countdown maths wizard and twitterer Rachel Riley, alleged comedian David Baddiel and prominent lawyer Andrew Julius have all expressed very similar opinions / ideas:
These #3billboards are going round London today, organised by ex-Labour people, horrified by what their party has become. Their principles haven’t changed, they’re ...
So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to declare a climate emergency:The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” as it urged all EU countries to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The vote came as scientists warned that the world may have already crossed ...
Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball’s bill introducing a six-month minimum sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its first reading in Parliament. Mr Ball said the new offence of "injuring a first responder or prison officer with intent" would target people who attacked paramedics, police, firefighters, and corrections ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave his final interview for 2019 on The Country to tell farmers they have never had it better under the current coalition Government. “Here you've got these record returns [for farmers]. These returns would be nothing like a record if the currency under the ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that New Zealand's Cook Islands High Commissioner, Tessa Temata, has died over the weekend. Ms Temata, 52, died in Palmerston North and had returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. She was the first New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands of Cook Island ...
A new defence report has mapped out how New Zealand's soldiers will navigate rising seas, and a year after the Defence Force announced its need to prepare for climate change. In the “Responding to the Climate Crisis” report, the Force restates its operational plan and sets goals to tackle climate ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of DefenceTērā te haeata takiri ana mai i runga o Pukaha!Ara tai uru, whai uru, whai uru!Ara whai ato, whai ato, whai ato!Ara rā tini, ara rā tini, ara ri!The rays of the morning sun strike a new dawn upon Pukaha ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today the appointment of diplomat Sarah Lee as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to South Africa. She will be the first female Head of Mission to represent New Zealand in Africa. “New Zealand’s relationship with South ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
The days of vulnerable consumers falling victim to loan sharks, truck shops and other predatory lenders are numbered, following the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill passing its third reading tonight. “Too many Kiwis are being given loans that are unaffordable and unsuitable, trapping them in debt and leaving their families ...
A Bill that prevents terrorism and supports the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas has passed its third reading, Justice Minister Andrew Little says. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill is a carefully targeted response to manage the risk posed by a small number of New Zealanders who have ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Samoa on Friday, where New Zealand medical teams are helping Samoa respond to an outbreak of measles. “New Zealand has been working closely with the Government of Samoa and offering our assistance from the ...
The Government has changed the law to improve student safety and welfare in university halls of residence and other student accommodation. The Education (Pastoral Care) Amendment Bill passed its third reading this afternoon and details of an interim Code of Practice setting out the Government’s expectations of tertiary providers have also been released. ...
A new tool to help councils fund and finance infrastructure could mean some housing developments happen a decade earlier than currently planned, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. “This new tool, developed by the Government in partnership with industry and high-growth councils, will allow councils to access private debt ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has welcomed the release of a bold new vision for the country’s vital food and fibre sector. “I’m delighted that New Zealand’s major farmer and grower organisations are today supporting the Primary Sector Council’s vision – Fit for a Better World,” he said. “The international consumers ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has congratulated the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government for completing a well-conducted referendum on the future political status of Bougainville. “New Zealand supported the referendum process by providing technical advice through the New Zealand Electoral Commission and leading a Regional Police ...
In light of Cabinet’s position that freight operations on prime land in downtown Auckland are no longer viable, the Government will now embark on a short work programme to enable decision-making in the first half of next year, Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones is today releasing the ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter has received the report back from a surgical mesh restorative justice process undertaken by Victoria University. The process heard stories, either in person or online submission, from more than 600 people affected by surgical mesh. “The report made for heart-breaking and confronting reading,” says ...
The Water Services Regulator Bill – Taumata Arowai , introduced to Parliament today, is a milestone for drinking water safety in New Zealand and will help improve environmental outcomes for urban waterways, rivers and lakes. “This is a breakthrough for New Zealanders in terms of providing safe drinking water throughout ...
Kia ora koutouE ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā matā wakaTēnā koutou katoaHaere ngā, moe maiKoutou ma ngā Rangatira Ko Anaru ahauKo au te Minita mo ngā TureHe Honore tino nui kei roto I ahau No reira tena koutou katoa Today, we are releasing two reports that are the ...
The Government is looking to turn around the long-term challenges of criminal justice by taking a new approach to break the cycle of offending to ensure there are fewer victims of crime. Justice Minister Andrew Little released two reports today, Turuki! Turuki! from Te Uepū Hāpai I te Ora, and ...
New Zealand firms expanding beyond the start-up phase are set for more support after today’s passage of the Venture Capital Fund Bill, Associate Finance Minister David Parker said. The Bill, which establishes a $300 million Venture Capital Fund, puts in place a key initiative of the Wellbeing Budget’s economic package. ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira mā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Señora Presidenta, Excellencies, Delegates. International action A common thread that runs through the Paris Agreement is the commitment we have made to each other to do what we can to ...
The Government is lifting capital investment to the highest level in more than 20 years as it takes the next step to future-proof New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced $12 billion of new investment, with $8 billion for specific capital projects and $4 billion to be added to ...
The Government is forecast to run $12 billion worth of surpluses across the four years to 2023/24 as the economy continues to grow. The surpluses will help fund day-to-day capital requirements each year. These include fixing leaky hospitals, building new classrooms to cover population growth and take pressure off class ...
Budget 2020 will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also investing to future-proof the economy. When the Government took office in 2017 it was left with crumbling infrastructure, severe underinvestment in public services, degraded rivers and lakes, a housing crisis and rising ...
The Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (te Takutai Moana Act 2011), Andrew Little has welcomed the launch of an online geospatial tool that provides data-rich, dynamic coastline maps that will significantly boost research and evidence-gathering under the Act. Te Kete Kōrero a Te ...
The Chief Victims Advisor to Government Dr Kim McGregor, QSO, has been reappointed in her role for a further two years. Dr McGregor has held the role since it was established in November 2015. She provides independent advice to government on how to improve the criminal justice system for victims. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare have today announced the deployment of a network of DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoys. “New Zealand and the Pacific region are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. It is vital we have adequate warning systems in place,” ...
DART Buoys Announcement Aotea Wharf, 9.30am 11 December 2019 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to Minister for Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare also here today. White Island It is with regret that this event shadows the tragic natural disaster two days ago. The volcanic eruptions on White Island have claimed 5 lives, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Racing Industry Bill in parliament today. This is the second of two Bills that have been introduced this year to revitalise New Zealand’s racing industry. “Our domestic racing industry has been in serious decline. The Government is committed to ...
Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, is pleased to announce that $291,321 is to be awarded to national and local community initiatives to maintain and promote the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). “New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where Sign Language is an ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has announced today the Coalition Government’s initial response to work completed by the independent statutory body, the Veterans’ Advisory Board. “When Professor Ron Paterson completed his review of the Veterans’ Support Act in 2018, he made a number of recommendations, including one which I referred ...
The Government will fund the bulk of the cost of a rural water supply for the Ohakea community affected by PFAS contamination, Environment Minister David Parker announced today at a meeting of local residents. This new water scheme will provide a reliable and clean source of drinking water to the ...
I have had the opportunity to be briefed on the details of the volcanic eruption of Whakaari/White Island, off the coast of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. The eruption happened at 2.11pm today. It continues to be an evolving situation. We know that there were a number of tourists ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare have today confirmed initial Government support of $100,000 for communities affected by the severe weather that swept across the South Island and lower North Island over the weekend. The contribution will be made to Mayoral relief funds across the ...
New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata, died in Palmerston North over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today. Ms Temata, 52, had recently returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. "On behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we extend ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today announced construction is underway on Wellington commuter rail upgrades which will mean more frequent services and fewer breakdowns. The upgrades include converting the Trentham to Upper Hutt single track section to a double track, with a new signalling system, upgraded stations and level crossings, and ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark and Minister for Climate Change James Shaw have announced the release of a Defence Climate Change Implementation Work Plan, titled Responding to the Climate Crisis: An Implementation Plan. The plan sets out a series of recommendations based on the 2018 New Zealand Defence Assessment, The ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
Thank you Professor Juliet Gerrard and your team for the comprehensive and extremely helpful report and recommendations. Thank you too to all the stakeholders and interested parties who have contributed ideas and thinking to it. “Making best practice, standard practice” is a great framework for change and the action plan ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
I want to talk about one of the most pressing issues in our national life: the housing crisis and the poor performance of our cities. The argument I want to make to you is that generations of urban land use policy have lacked a decent grounding in economics. The consequences ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Winston Peters is bemoaning how long a decision on Northport is taking, saying if you're faced with inevitability, you should act. But Cabinet ministers have put off making a call until next year. ...
A review of the ANZ Bank New Zealand's missteps over the past year has found complacency at the most senior level, leading to the departure of its long serving chief executive. ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.In his big-spending infrastructure announcement yesterday, Grant Robertson reinforced what many political commentators say about him – he’s electorally smart, but way too conservative to be a genuine leftwing minister of finance. Robertson does what is right for winning votes, but not necessarily what is in the ...
Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the announcement today of three changes to the Arms Bill should be the start of a large-scale rewrite, or even eventual abandonment. ...
The failure of high-growth councils to supply enough infrastructure to support housing development has led to some serious social and economic problems, the NZ Productivity Commission states in a local government funding and financing report released today. ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that while the Budget Policy Statement 2020 promises to extend Budget 2019’s 'Wellbeing' framework and states "reducing child poverty and improving child wellbeing" as a priority, spending plans don’t ...
The National Party's new health platform includes $50 million a year for cancer drugs, a boost to Pharmac funding and the reintroduction of National Health Targets. ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is lamenting the lack of courage shown in the Productivity Commission’s Local Government Funding Report, saying that while it makes many worthy recommendations, its play-it-safe-approach relegates the report ...
Wellington 12 December 2019: The Government’s announcement to future-proof New Zealand with a $12billion investment in infrastructure is a positive sign for the country’s future. ...
19-year-old Benee’s track ‘Glitter’ is climbing international charts thanks to being given a TikTok dance. How does that work? Josie Adams explains what a TikTok dance is, and how this social media app is the new MTV.Who is Benee?Benee has had a huge 2019, with the Aucklander riding sparkling pop ...
Newsroom has asked the district court to end a defamation action by business site NBR over a news story discussing NBR and ex National MP Steven Joyce. ...
Today, at a meeting of Auckland Council’s Governing Body, councillors voted unanimously for a series of resolutions that will require greater direct involvement in resolving the ongoing dispute between unions and NZ Bus from Auckland Transport and the Minister ...
“Important policy and legislative developments have landed today which could enable a bolder, more streamlined way of delivering new infrastructure for the benefit all New Zealanders,” says Infrastructure New Zealand CEO Paul Blair. ...
The Public Service Association welcomes the announcement of a new strategic direction for the justice system, but says union members want to be properly included in designing the system they will eventually implement. ...
The success stories of people with extra struggles may not get awards and trophies, but they’re worth celebrating all the same, says Jai Breitnauer.It’s the time of year for awards assemblies and prize-givings, for clubs and teams handing out certificates and trophies. It’s traditional, as we approach Christmas and the ...
Millions of dollars worth of New Zealand fruit and grapes were at risk of rotting on the branch due to a shortage of local pickers. So a visionary group of Central Otago growers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Gibney, NHMRC early career fellow, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity The pacific island nation of Samoa has been making headlines over the past month due to a significant measles outbreak. At last count, 4,995 measles cases had been ...
Two newspaper reports illustrate the contrasting involvements of science and spiritual beliefs in the aftermath of the White Island eruption. Meanwhile several iwi have placed rāhui over their customary coastal areas. This effectively represents a customary prohibition on all maritime activities for the whole of the Eastern Bay of Plenty ...
From Middle Earth to outer space, New Zealand business has covered a lot of ground in the last 10 years. Business editor Maria Slade looks back.As the world emerged blinking from the chaos of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, New Zealand began the 2010s in relatively good shape. We’d recovered ...
The Spinoff’s cartoonist Toby Morris chats and draws with New Zealand’s doodlers in the webseries Two Sketches. This episode, Toby is the guest of Sir Michael Hill… Jeweller.To close out the season, and potentially the series, Toby boards the super yacht of jeweller, entrepreneur, rich lister and, now, cartoonist, Michael ...
Today's release of Turuki Turuki will be welcome news for people in prison and all those working in the criminal justice system. But its most important message is that all sides need to come together. Turuki Turuki is a call for political ...
The New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the coalition Government agrees RNZ and TVNZ need protecting at a time when media industry is in dire straights. ...
When Barbara Cox joined a football team in 1973, she was one of the first women in the country to do so. She’s still fighting for women in the sport to get the respect they deserve. Auckland women didn’t play football in 1972. Auckland women cooked and cleaned and looked after ...
Richard MacManus meets Aimee – the digital assistant with a human touch. For years we’ve been worried about robots taking our jobs, but in fact it’s “digital humans” that are increasingly joining the workforce. At least, that seems to be the case in customer service. Southern Cross Health Society, New Zealand’s ...
Election rallies ain’t what they used to be. Boris’s election eve shindig was an invitation-only event for party faithful. The location (at a smallish venue in the London Olympic park) was disclosed to attendees only on the day (presumably to head off the risk of protest).The set-up is for ...
New Zealanders waiting for hip and knee surgery and other medical procedures, and families struggling to put food on the table will be funding increased profits for banks and corporate investors following Finance Minister Grant Robertson's $12 billion ...
Business is Boring is a podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Campbell Ellison from Callaghan Innovation and Alexandra Allan, CEO of Food Bowl.One of the ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has published the 2019 ‘Public Sector CEO Rich List’ at www.taxpayers.org.nz/ceo_rich_list Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “This year taxpayers will pay $62 million in salaries for just 140 people. ...
The first step in making things fairer, for those that have experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth, got closer with the passing of the first reading of Labour MP Ginny Anderson’s Holidays Act (Bereavement Leave for Miscarriage) Amendment Bill on Tuesday. ...
All over the world, driver error and risk-taking is a leading cause of road crashes [1]. For many employees, driving is the riskiest activity they undertake at work. Organisations looking to encourage and manage safe driving behaviours will benefit ...
The greatest show to ever air on New Zealand TV screens, and arguably any screens ever, had a tenure of just three tragically short years.It was on air from March 1997 to September 1999. It had an ensemble of impossibly jazzy New Zealand children and a live studio audience. It ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Government infrastructure spending, fiscal policy Chris Trotter: Grant Robertson Spends Up Large – On The Establishment Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Politics and economics ...
Thursday, 12 December: Great South has today released a profile of Southland’s emission sources for the 2018 calendar year. It shows that agricultural-related emissions were identified to be the largest emission source for Southland, representing 69% ...
Britain votes today in an election brought on by the ongoing failure of the House of Commons to approve any of the Brexit deals put before it over the last couple of years by successive Prime Ministers, Theresa May and now Boris Johnson. Mr Johnson ...
The case for a complete relocation of Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour freight port is far from established. Nevertheless, Auckland will grow over the long term, and the freight operations need to move away from the area close to the downtown Ferry Terminal. This area should become like Sydney’s Circular Quay. The ...
Climate change crisis; - “transport emissions are a major culprit causing horrendous weather events.” At CEAC; we will watch with interest of how the transport funds will be used to improve our transport infrastructure and lower our climate change ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson unveiled a $12 billion infrastructure spending boost that was at the top end of most short-term political expectations. ...
From unpaid teachers to match fixing to sex in a toilet, these are the news stories that outraged New Zealand in the 2010s.Paul HenryThe decade in NZ scandal started out strong thanks to TV and radio host Paul Henry (for the edification of younger readers, he was like Mike Hosking, ...
The Minister for the Environment, Hon David Parker, has this evening launched EDS’s final report on its Resource Management Law Reform Project at a function in Wellington. The project took a first-principles look at how New Zealand’s resource management ...
The power of government to order users and companies to decrypt encrypted data and devices needs stronger privacy protections and additional safeguards, according to a study published by researchers at the University of Waikato. ...
The final Cabinet meeting of the year is on Monday, but an announcement on the future of public broadcasting may not be made until next year given there's only be two of after that. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Manwaring, Senior Lecturer, Politics and Public Policy, Flinders University The cost of running the 2017 UK general election was estimated at £140 million (A$270 million). It’s likely to be higher this time. In 2017, the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats ...
National Leader Simon Bridges is accusing the Government of "screwing up the economy," after new Treasury figures revealed the books would be going into deficit next year. ...
Government unveils $12b infrastructure boost, much of it focused on roads and rail; and much awaited report on combatting foreign interference in elections delivered. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Brumm, ARC Future Fellow, Griffith University Our team has discovered a cave painting in Indonesia that is at least 44,000 years old and which may cast new light on the beginnings of modern religious culture. This ancient painting from the island ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Dalziell, Associate Professor, English and Literary Studies, University of Western Australia Nick Broomfield’s latest documentary, Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love tells the story of the fabled relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen, which unfolded after they met on the ...
Two more victims of the Whakaari-White Island eruption have died overnight, taking the death toll to eight, with eight others believed dead on the island. ...
Two new reports both recommend fresh approaches to the way criminal justice is approached. Today, changes to the system will come into effect immediately. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Capacity constraints loom large in spending stimulus, pilot speaks out about slow Whakaari recovery efforts, and carbon monoxide levels are high.The fundamentally conservative approach of finance minister Grant Robertson has continued, even as he has moved to loosen the purse ...
Four young Kiwi women are sharpening their combs and cutters to set a nine-hour world shearing record, as the call for a women's shearing world title grows louder. ...
Regional councils will decide for themselves how to account for water, leading to difficulties in comparing water quality and use. Australia has a far better nationwide system. ...
Yesterday Ian Foster was announced as the new coach of the All Blacks, having already spent eight years as part of the coaching setup. Here, Jamie Wall recounts first meeting Foster in Buenos Aires, and how he marks a departure from Steve Hansen. It was a Friday night earlier this year ...
After a year spent reporting on and analysing the chaos enveloping New Zealand’s media industry, The Spinoff managing editor Duncan Greive has finally cracked and started a podcast to cover it. Here is a short and necessarily incomplete list of things that have happened in New Zealand’s media in 2019:Three was ...
Those reflecting on the aftermath of the White Island eruption might take a little time to study this article in Discover Magazine by Erik Klemetti.Published in August 2012, he asked the question “How Dangerous is Visiting New Zealand’s White Island?” and offered some sober opinions.On the inherent risk ...
Open mike 31/03/2012 
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so what was the actual accident Puller meet with in 2002 that all the fuss is over and what events of note, if any surround it ?
Brain injuries from a cycling accident. Do we need to know more?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6616118/The-friend-and-activist-linked-to-Smiths-demise
There but for the grace of fate go I. I’m grateful I only suffered permanent injuries to a limb in my accident. Head injuries must be devastating and very hard to adjust to the life change.
Ha, so that ‘ explains’ the multimillion insurance claim.
I was interested that tv3 ran keys mangled comment about an enquiry. I did not understand the words. It is the first time i have heard him so bad. I wonder if it would have been played last term?
I think her injury has genuinely handicapped a potenitally stellar career. I did wonder, given her contacts, why she had continued to have problems with ACC, and then realised that most of her time as a long-term claimant has been under a Labour Government. Labour also set targets for reducing what ACC described as the “tail” of “stock”, and vulnerable groups, such as those with head injuries, repetitive strain injuries, those with modest means and few social advantages etc. were soft targets in the culls.
I suspect Pullar would have managed this situation discretely and to her best advantage (as well as that of her class) if she was less affected by her injury, or if National had been in power throughout the period of incapacity.
It would be good for people to know the cause of Ms Pullar’s injury ie that it was in a biking accident. I get annoyed at the constant drone from greenies about everyone getting out cars and biking because its so good for the planet. Yes. But for the individual, it can be very unsafe and some on bikes don’t seem to have the cautionary control of a toddler or any consideration for pedestrians comfort. Everywhere belongs to them, road, footpaths, footpaths in parks, green lawns in parks, berms, any space they can whisk through between walkers.
What angers me most is that they don’t frickin’ wear helmets! A good example of the sheer selfish nature of some cyclists is the 35 year old man who came whizzing, helmetless, across Carrington Road outside Unitec, and down the street on the footpath, missing me by millimetres as he zoomed past me. I called out “idiot!” and he turned around, poked his tongue, screamed an insult about old ladies clogging up the footpath, ‘flipped me the bird’ as I believe the American expression is, and rode on laughing.
Cycles are not legally allowed on footpaths. Many cyclists have told me that the law says they are allowed to not wear helmets if they ride on the footpath. So I made a point of checking with the police. (Who won’t enforce their own law even if an offender is pointed out to them as they are just too damned lazy).
Cycling on footpaths is illegal.
Riding helmetless is illegal.
There is a cycle path on Carrington Road! There’s a big brass plaque pointing that fact out. It’s still ignored even by the Greenie tarts on bikes (I mean frocks on bikes isn’t it? One of them cycles around here, too proud of her expensive hair-do to wear a helmet.)
Footpaths are for pedestrians, and with the Segar Ave residence for people with cerebral palsy and Rehab + for brain injured people both off Carrington Road, wheel chair users.
In a radio interview with I think a Compensation lawyer about 3 weeks ago, he said that it was quite common for brain injury people to become obsessional about matters especially as it relates to the accident. (Cannot remember where the interview was though it had to be National Radio.)
So what is going to be done to stop this sort of thing then…
Nothing when you let the poacher play the part of the gamekeeper also, exactly the same culture that sees top execs pay scream away from average workers at a blistering speed and still get bonuses even when organisations don’t perform.
If Treasury was paid on actual performance that would be interesting.
Bitter, tired and punch drunk. John Armstrong is pretty caustic on National’s meltdown.
Even the simpering Armstrong can’t spin his way out of such recent events, though he still manages to take a swipe at Labour in the last couple of paras
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10795672
Still, as always the Shonkey fanboy and lacking in credibility. The swipe at Labour shows what a shill he is…..focus on the issue JA which isn’t the opposition it’s the stench of NACT corruption the extractor fans aren’t coping with anymore.
And even National supporter Fran O’Sullivan, thinks that Mr Key should clear the air and set up an enquiry:
I think the only approval that Fran gives is to Judith Collins.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10795673
The gloss is or seems to be coming off the teflon from O’Sullivan’s more recent columns, but I remain sceptical in view of her blinkered idolism of the last three years or so. Still, good to see her supporting the call for a full enquiry.
Her support for Collins in this latest column is possibly an attempt to appease her remarks in her column last weekend when (in my honest opinion….) she virtually landed Collins in it re the leaking of Boag’s email:
David Bellamy….Interesting!
The botanist and climate denier? He has been hiding his archaeological expertise under a bushel perhaps.
Lol – Was wondering who would be first to respond…good consistancy points Bloke!
Loving continued use of “climate denier” as some sort of insult..I’m sure DB is very worried what you might think about his credentials. What classifies as “denier” status, so far as you are concerned?
Its kind of like how you dont understand the world of money laundering, and therefore nor do I. I only give an opinion on things which I know about!
“some sort of insult”
No. A simple statement of fact.
Muzza, you failed to understand my point about money laundering, as though I really care what a conspiracy theorist thinks.
Actually I understood what you were saying just fine, the fact you had no idea what you were talking about is quite arrogant . and still provides me entertainment because you keep trying anyway…as does you not answering a question yet again, but let’s just label it all conspiracy theory in case I’m wrong, and my large online ego collapses inward!
It’s possible to have an open mind without your brains falling out…in case you were going to repeat that , yet again!
Be fair, his credentials as an archaeologist are at least as credible as Noel Hilliam’s 😉
hilliam is a graverobber so the bar is pretty low.
http://mars2earth.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/dargy-dags.html
/facepalm
http://archaeologyaotearoa.blogspot.co.nz/
http://www.readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-cameron.html
And it doesn’t take much googling and critical thinking to realise that not only is that book a giant pile of shit, but also that Bellamy has transformed into the classical crackpot scientist, which is what happens when the D-K Effect hits a scientist outside of their field. Particularly as they get older…
Fortunately it’s a fairly rare condition, but thanks the media’s blindspot when it comes to science, crackpots like Bellamy are given plently of unwarranted positive attention.
Laila Harre’s appointment to the Green Party’s growing staff further strengthens the party’s position as the dominant opposition party. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/laila-harre-joins-greens.html
Chart of the Day: Conservatives Don’t Trust Science
I suppose the question then becomes: Just where did those delusional conservatives get their degrees?
And locally we have National’s plan to gut councils.
Yep, NACT already caught lying in support of the their plan to decrease local democracy.
What should be evidently clear to even the dimmest of bulbs is the following.
There is a concerted effort globally , has been for decades to consolidate nations, via unions, treaties and agreements. Locally we see the efforts being focussed two fold, TPPA which will bind us internationally even further, and the Auckland Super City, which was of course the pilot scheme to be rolled out nationally. One can hear the calls. and see it in action via the attempts to legislate from Wellington.
It is much “simpler” to control small numbers, so once you have consolidated the globe, EU/NAFTA/TPPA etc and removed sovereignty, well it becomes rather open to speculation at that stage. The cities must not be weasled into submission by the criminal government, whose agenda is crystal clear!
It depends on what you think ‘educated’ means. If you’ve ever seen how many creationists there are in first-year biology courses at university, you will know what I mean.
There are plenty of ‘educated’ people who go into university with a closed mind and leave the same way they came in. They give the expected answers in order to pass the exams, but they don’t believe any of it. Their faith takes precedence.
Is there not another woman in the Puller medley – the employee in ACC who released the list to Puller, and is it possible may have had a greater involvement than currently perceived.
It appears from media stories that she may have had unauthorised access to the Puller files, as she apparently had been tracked having some form of access.
There must be a greater inquiry than Privacy Commissioner.
Key gives his reasons for not having a fuller enquiry. at 4.55 into recording,
http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/pm-fronts-acc-saga-video-4808883
It appears that he thinks that by having an inquiry by the Privacy Commissioner will be enough. The problem is though the can of worms has been opened and they are fast slithering towards other matters far outside the nice little boxes that thinks he has under his control.
A full open independent inquiry needs to be held by individuals that are in no way remotely associated with this government as there are already rumors of cronyism and corruption beginning to surface. Did we not learn any thing about deception from Nicky Hager and the Hollow Men.
Well Fortan . Its hard to believe that these files were sent to an active National supporter by accident is it not? The whole thing stinks of Tory sleaze and money grabbing, Mone and power the cement in the National Party,
Funny…I hold New Zealand citizenship, but when I open my mouth and speak it’s obvious that I wasn’t born and raised here. Maybe nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand I get asked if I’m Canadian.
‘Nope, not Canadian. I’m from California.’
‘Oh, erm…well, look at the time…see ya.’
I’m definitely not a rah-rah ‘Go Team America’ kind of person. I find jingoism repulsive. Yet, the fact that I have US nationality somehow means to many people here that I am whatever stereotype they hold when it comes to Americans.
I think maybe in the future I’ll say, ‘Oh yeah…maple syrup and hockey, you betcha, eh.’ That seems to put the locals at ease.
Look at the bright side, happynz – you get to sift through the idiots faster. 1:1000 is a pretty good hit rate, there are potential social prejudices here that will jump that up to 1:100,000, accent, citizenship, or not. Welcome to NZ.
The Air Force have worked hard to put on this Ohakea show and 50-60,000 expected to pay for attendance. Two people who couldn’t manage to drive safely have managed to stuff that up.
The government will be paying for their injury management, for road management, and the losses caused by this crash to the Air Force. Plus there is the cost financial and in wellbeing and in time to people stuck on the road and others wishing to move through the area on their own business. The motor cyclist has head injuries. If he lives it is likely that he’ll require intensive care for much of his life.
It is very sad and unsatisfactory. I believe that all car drivers should have to carry some personal liability insurance and that hospitals should be able to charge for emergency care, not all of it, but on a set scale so that some of the costs of road accidents can be recovered. Many of them are not accidents at all they are examples of malfunctioning immature carelessness. Keeping idiots off the road would be good. Identifying the most likely to meet this term would not be hard, and the number of accidents would plummet. Cutting alcohol outlets and hours would help too but there isn’t the strength of opinion for this enough to sway the pollies.
Nope. Insurance, maybe. But hospitals charging for admission? Hell no.
It’s hard enough getting people to see their GP. Putting a cost barrier on emergency rooms ill result in delays until the problem is deemed serious enough by the patient to consider professional care, and by that time it might be too late.
The Secrets of China’s Economy: The Government Owns the Banks rather than the Reverse
Which is true, private mega corporations got a lot richer and more power via the bailouts while the majority of people got poorer and less powerful. But what’s really interesting is the sentences at the end of the article:
Which is what a few of us here have been saying for the last few years. The private banking system is the biggest problem we face and the only way we can bring it under control is to nationalise it.
British Labour Party gets clobbered by Galloway victory
http://leninology.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/galloway-wins.html
Since Bradford has so many of the social issues associated with high unemployment, and also the clarity that the proletariat discover when they make an attempt to halt the demise of their communities themselves, I wonder if this isn’t going to be the beginning of a particularly nasty battle for them – even though they have the representation they want.
I don’t know a whole lot about Galloway myself; I was first introduced to his rhetoric when he took on the government over the disappearance of certain funds during the Iraq invasion. If ever there was person qualified to fight the kind of battle that I see blowing Bradford’s way, it would be him, he’s a skilled scraper for sure. But there was also another side, admittedly these are stories from unsympathetic media sources, that was as dodgy as any politician, anywhere. The problem I see coming is that the groups that have tried to assist (we’ll be generous and say “assist”) Bradford’s social issues aren’t all of the left-leaning persuasion, and as Torys believe, if you take their support and don’t then pay it back by accepting their world view, thereby perpetuating your demise, just slower, they withdraw all the support and go on the attack. It’s not a reason to fold, or give up, but it is a concern.
But if we take Galloway and the context of Bradford out of the picture, it is uncanny how the sentiment of the article mirrors our own nation’s issues over the past few months. If we then drop in the same concerns I see happening, it is a warning that just winning an election is only the start of the work. The battle, for real, starts immediately after that – and the opponent isn’t going to be beaten easily. Real change is the only option, none of the tinkering of the last 30 odd years.
It does look like the right wing dominance in media and politics, via the neoliberal narrative, is weakening here and abroad e.g. Murdock’s fall from grace etc.
But I wonder if Sean Plunket has any comments on Galloway’s success in Bradford, or he will show the same avoidance behaviour he demonstrated in 2010:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1008/S00314/galloway-disputes-claims-on-the-nation.htm
Galloway has a bit of a Hone Harawira kind of relationship with the MSM, followed by electoral success standing on a left wing platform.
Of relevance here is the latest from TUMEKE blog:
Did a Labour Party MP accidentally rumble the new fish and chip club 2014 in David Shearers office last month?
Did the club consist of Pagani, Shearer, Parker, Nash and a well known right wing strategist?
Did the Labour Party MP complain about the strategist being in Shearer’s office?
What happened to the complaint?
Obviously there is more to come, but this really doesn’t surprise me. Another twist in Labour’s death spiral. The right is happy for Labour to win the next election in its present configuration. With a dearth of suitable candidates to replace Key, NACT has settled on a suitable replacement; David Shearer.
The Bye election result in Bradford West UK is interesting and could well be a warning to our own Labour Party.A far Left candidate has won in a landslide in a “safe Labour seat. Tories whacked and the LibDems totally defeated .This could well be a caution to NZ labour not to move further to the centre or to the Right. If we are to recover those non-voters from the last election we need to start thinking more Left not Right or the Bradford result may well happen here .Take not Labour leaders now.
I agree, pink postman, especially when you look at Bradford alongside the Queensland rout. I think that Labour Parties who agree to be semi-tories so as to get corporate dollars to fight elections are doomed – the pendulum has swing too far.
Self-drive car. Although, I suspect that it won’t get a lot of use due to the increasing cost of fuel as Peak Oil bites.
I suppose you could just have a wee sleep after telling it where you want to end up. My Grandfather had a system like that. He would roll out of the pub, climb up the seat on the gig and say,”Home Neddie.” Then drop off for a little snooze. Chaff didn’t cost much either.
🙂 Funny …
Google have had all kind of trouble with them, it’s been a long programme already. I could see where they might have a use, but it’s really just another way of taking people out the equation.