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.
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.
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Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has published their report on whether the SIS and GCSB had any complicity in American torture. And its damning. The pull quote is this:The Inquiry found both agencies, but to a much greater degree, the NZSIS, received many intelligence reports obtained from detainees who, ...
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...
For most of the time I was a British MP, my party was out of government – these were the Thatcher years, when it was hard for anyone else to get a look-in. As a front-bencher and shadow minister, I became familiar with the strategies required in a parliamentary democracy ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On August 29th a video in which veteran FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) commander Iván Márquez announced that they had taken up arms again was released. There was no delay in the reaction to it, from longtime Liberal Party figure and former president Uribe, for ...
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...
No-one on the anti-capitalist left in this country today puts forward a case that Labour is on the side of the working class. There are certainly people who call themselves ‘socialist’ who do, but they are essentially liberals with vested interests in Labourism – often for career reasons. Nevertheless, there ...
When National was in government and fucking over the poor for the benefit of the rich, foodbanks were a growth industry. And now Labour is in charge, nothing has changed: A huge demand for emergency food parcels means the Auckland City Mission is struggling to prepare for the impending arrival ...
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...
Today the government released its Action Plan for Healthy Waterways, aimed at cleaning up our lakes and rivers. Its actually quite good. There will be protection for wetlands, better standards for swimming spots, a requirement for continuous improvement, and better standards for wastewater and stormwater. But most importantly, there's a ...
Today I appeared before the Environment Committee to give an oral submission on the Zero Carbon Bill. Over 1,500 people have asked to appear in person, so they've divided into subcommittees and are off touring the country, giving people a five minute slot each. The other submitters were a mixed ...
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning why, for the second time, Jacinda Ardern has appointed a Crown-owned company Chief Executive to Chair her “Business Advisory Council”, following her announcement that Mercury CEO Fraser Whineray ...
Responding to the Government’s decision to give around $300 million to Amazon as a sweetener for filming a TV series in New Zealand, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “As a matter of simple waste, this is striking, ...
I am very pleased with Air New Zealand’s Decision to backdown and withdraw their application to trademark into a logo Kia Ora. I said at the time that it was an ill conceived idea and poorly thought out – more importantly it should never have been ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa members will be joining with others across the union movement by wearing black and white in support of pay equity on Suffrage Day tomorrow, and urging the Government to commit to a settlement for teacher aides this year. ...
Yesterday’s announcement from the Minister for Immigration, to improve temporary work visas for migrant workers, provides some positive changes but more detail is needed. The Council of Trade Unions fundamentally supports the principle of making ...
FIRST Union today welcomed Westpac’s public admission of the significant gender pay gap in its workforce and reiterated its call for employers to work with unions to close this disparity, arguing that this work must begin at the bottom of the pay ...
Changes to the work visa system announced by the Minister of Immigration are not all positive for employers or migrants, comments Ms June Ranson, chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) , a leading voice in the ...
The Dairy Workers Union (DWU) has welcomed the announcement from dairy company, Synlait, that they will be boosting parental leave entitlements significantly for working parents. ...
In June, the Children’s Commissioner announced a thematic review into Oranga Tamariki’s policies, processes and practice relating to care and protection issues for tamariki Māori aged 0-3 months. Today the Children’s Commissioner has released the full ...
“Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues of the Western Bay region. We believe that this is ...
In response to DairyNZ's attempt to dismiss an economic report that highlighted dairy's role in the New Zealand economy is only three per cent of GDP, Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says: "If DairyNZ wishes to reject a report ...
Kiingi Tuuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has successfully guided the mana whenua of lhumaatao to reach a consensus on the future of their whenua. ...
Two activists disguised as shareholders interrupted the AGM of a gold mining company in central Auckland this morning to inform shareholders their plans to mine for gold in conservation estate in the Karangahake Gorge were unwelcome. ...
The Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) has been labelled ‘NATO’ (no action, talk only) when it comes to child mental health, with just 0.6 full time staff (24 hours per week) for inpatient child psychology and just 0.8 full time staff ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has awarded three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union , in partnership with the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance , has today published this year's Ratepayers' Report – online local government league tables – at www.ratepayersreport.nz . ...
NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small welcomes the news New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with US President Donald Trump in New York next week. ...
The recent NZIER report trivialises the significant role the dairy sector plays in New Zealand’s economy – and fails to look at the specifics of the Government’s freshwater package, according to DairyNZ. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said ...
This week, the New Zealand Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will jointly host a seminar on tackling the global spread of illicit weapons. ...
In a landmark judgment issued this morning, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Southern Response Concealment Class Action will proceed issued on an "opt out” basis. ...
Mainstream media, as the purveyors of truth and source of balanced information, took another backward step today with the announcement by Stuff that most New Zealand organisations had joined 170 media outlets from around the world in the “Covering ...
The goal of one million Kiwis having basic conversations in te reo by 2040 is unrealistic if more is not done to get serious about reo acquisition says the Māori Party. “While small steps have been taken to bolster efforts to increase the numbers of speakers, ...
Changes announced today by the Immigration Minister to employer-assisted visas will help businesses, but more work is needed to boost economic growth says Business Central. ...
DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is welcoming today’s announcement that the Government will be streamlining the employer assisted work visa process to help businesses and farms fill skills shortages. ...
Lawrence Yule MP wrote to our Office with concerns about the Department of Corrections' approach to procuring design and build services for rapid deployment of prison accommodation. We have published our response to Mr Yule on our website . ...
That from the chair of the Wellington Region of the College of Midwives, Siobhan Connor, following the news that Hutt Valley District Health Board is targeting midwives from overseas to help fill gaps in maternity units. ...
70% of New Zealand’s surface water take is allocated to Meridian’s Manapouri Power Scheme. But when Environment Minister David Parker asked to exempt the Scheme from his Freshwater Action Plan, he didn’t tell Cabinet that. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers responded in a timely and appropriate manner as soon as they were aware that a fleeing driver had hit a pedestrian. ...
prevention and intervention. Following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s post-Cabinet press conference we are encouraged to see the acknowledgement of the mistakes made and the need to address this. The five points outlined in the action plan, which ...
A surge in teen vaping rates and a series of deaths being linked to vaping has resulted in a number of bans on the sales of flavoured Vape juice products in the United States. Though it is widely acknowledged that vaping is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, ...
The governments’ new environmental proposals will further accentuate the move of good, productive farmland into forestry according to environmental lobby group 50 Shades of Green. ...
17 September 2019: New Zealanders are acutely aware of the impact food production processes have on our planet according to new research released today by the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust. ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL is awarding three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
On 14 September 2017, the pipeline that brings diesel, petrol, and jet fuel from Marsden Point Oil Refinery into Auckland ruptured. It leaked jet fuel into rural properties and stopped the transmission of fuels into Auckland for 10 days. The rupture ...
Victims Advocate Louise Nicholas - Labour should have brought in “specialist support” “When there is a complaint especially a serious complaint of sexual assault, the first thing that should have happened was specialist support brought in to ensure ...
Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says New Zealand is ‘not close’ to bringing in oil reserves after the attack on Saudi fields. “We would have to see prices rise by about $20 per barrel in order for some of those strategic reserves ...
New Zealand's new fresh water regulation rules will have no major impacts on the national economy, according to an independent report just out. The report by independent economic consultancy New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows that dairying ...
Fish & Game New Zealand has welcomed the findings of a New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report, which rejects claims the Government’s freshwater proposals will have a significant economic impact. ...
The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the Government should take its proposed firearms legislation to the people with a touring Select Committee, as it just has with the Zero Carbon bill. ...
Water reforms and the long term sustainability of water will be a key focus at the Water New Zealand conference and expo this week (18-20 September) in Hamilton. ...
“Kiwi ex-smokers are mobilising against the Government’s plans to drastically limit vaping flavours. Flavours have been key to them quitting tobacco and they now just want other smokers to have the same chance,” says Jonathan Devery, co-owner ...
Oil company Tamarind Resources has reportedly halted drilling at its Tui oil field off the Taranaki coast after the first of the three planned wells came up dry and bad weather caused delays. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the left-wing campaign group “ActionStation” to front up and be transparent about how much taxpayer funding it takes from the Government to underwrite its activism activities. Earlier in the month, the Taxpayers’ ...
The ‘ Unplanned ’ movie is here and Family First has secured one of the first screenings in New Zealand tonight. ‘Unplanned’ brings an eye-opening look inside the abortion industry from a woman who was once its most passionate advocate. All ...
James Renwick claim that NZ is failing on climate change is valid, and since James has been receiving widespread media coverage that we outline most of it again here now as we gear up for the ‘Global climate change conference’ beginning next week. ...
Protestors will be outside the venue of the fourth hearing for Operation Burnham Inquiry on Monday morning from 8.30am to give a message to former and current military officers as they arrive to speak about the ongoing coverup of the 2010 attack on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Rogue construction union boss John Setka is already in fights with the Labor party and the ACTU leadership. Now he faces a battle with parliament. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is moving to refer an ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paxton Loke, Paediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Spring has sprung and if you’re one of the one in five Australians who get hay fever, you’ve probably noticed some of those pesky symptoms: sneezing; an itchy, runny or stuffy nose; ...
Covering Climate Now: Alex Casey watches 2040, a climate change documentary determined to let the light in. I’ve seen enough documentaries about climate change to know what I don’t want to see anymore. I don’t want Leonardo DiCaprio stroking his goatee on a sheet of ice and saying “folks: it’s bad”. ...
Covering Climate Now: We need to broaden our measures of success if we want to have any chance of reaching blunt targets for reducing emissions, writes Catherine Leining.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Since 1992, multiple rounds of greenhouse gas ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged the Labour sexual assault scandal risks hurting New Zealand's reputation on the world stage as she heads abroad. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged the Labour sexual assault scandal risks hurting New Zealand's reputation on the world stage as she heads abroad. ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Thousands of forest fires have been burning across Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra, disrupting air travel, closing schools and sickening thousands of people, reports the New York Times. Officials have said that about 80 per cent of the fires were intentionally set to make room for lucrative ...
After over a month of discussions, Kiingitanga has announced that mana whenua at Ihumātao want to keep the land. Fletcher Buildings still owns it, so what comes next in the movement to protect Ihumātao?After over a month of discussion between divided mana whenua over the land at Ihumātao, the Māori ...
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.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Climate change Sharon Murdoch (Stuff): 4000 Days: A climate change story where you choose the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, PhD Research Student, History & Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How big is the International Space Station? – Isla, aged 6, Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Lecturer Sport Management, Western Sydney University In March this year, photographer Michael Willson captured an image of AFL footballer Tayla Harris kicking for a goal. The image shows Harris in athletic flight, right leg extended skyward and muscles flexed as ...
It’s a hard road getting attention for outsider candidates in local elections. Alex Braae, writer of The Bulletin and stout defender of the political little guy, thought he’d lend a hand by moderating a rebel Wellington mayoral debate.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The SpinoffMembers. For more ...
Covering Climate Now: A midweek update from the Spinoffers who have ditched dairy (and eggs, and meat, and fish…) for the week. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Read this for the background on what this plant-based palaver is all about.Three ...
Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is defending his use of the words "sieg heil" during last night's lively political debate with Phil Goff, despite being lambasted for it on social media. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Xie, Scientia PhD Scholar, School of Psychology, UNSW This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. This Friday in the lead-up to the United Nations ...
Covering Climate Now: It’s easy to indulge in the idea that individual actions can’t have an impact on climate change. But a few simple ideas from economics show how wrong that is, argues Waikato University lecturer in environmental economics Zach Dorner.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Laurenceson, Acting Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), University of Technology Sydney Last week’s Asian-Australian Leadership Summit in Melbourne saw the release of valuable new survey data on the discrimination some Australians face. A survey conducted by the Australian National ...
Last night Auckland mayoral contender John Tamihere said “sieg heil” when answering a question on diversity. Sadly that has forced us to put together a cheat sheet on how not to say Nazi phrases in debates.About one hour and 18 minutes into a pub politics debate at Chapel Bar on ...
In a special video interview ahead of the big UN Climate Action Summit, UN Secretary General Antonion Guterres says he is hopeful rather than desperate in the face of the climate emergency. ...
The Future of Work at Hutt City’s Dowse Art Museum makes visible our changing work conditions. Mark Amery took a tour, and even got some work done himself while he was there.I’ve gone to work at the gallery. And I’m making an exhibition of myself. Making my labour visible. I’m ...
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council was the first in New Zealand to vote in Māori ward seats. This election, the region’s longest-standing Māori councillor is up against some fierce competition from a former broadcaster who’s already put his skills to use in a viral video.The Spinoff local election coverage ...
With only a few more sleeps until the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Tara Ward looks at the variety of ways you can watch the tournament from the comfort of your own home.Set your clocks, sound the alarms and gird your scrum-loving loins for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which kicks ...
Covering Climate Now: As part of The Spinoff’s commitment to Covering Climate Now, the food section has gone vegan. Today, a delicious recipe to herald the arrival of spring. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Roman-style vignarolahas great appeal at ...
Covering Climate Now: Connecting your everyday choices at the supermarket to a crisis half a world away might be a hard concept get your head around, but we all have power to effect change, writes Hannah McGowan.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University When we think of a bank robbery, we might imagine a safe with the door blown open. But nowadays it might be more accurate to picture criminals accessing our bank account online ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Senior Fellow, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University In the hit biopic Rocket Man, the ambitious young Reginald Dwight is counselled to hide his working-class roots if he wants to make it in “showbiz”: You gotta kill the person ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia Countries around the world, including Australia, are using different ways to get parents to vaccinate their children. Our new research, published this week in the journal Milbank Quarterly, looks at diverse mandatory vaccination policies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Hare, Director, Climate Analytics, Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University (Perth), Visiting scientist, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research This piece is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathalie Collins, Academic Director (National Programs), Edith Cowan University The hit sitcom Friends aired for the first time 25 years ago this week. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey have not aged on our small screen – and neither has their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hall, Senior Researcher in Politics, Auckland University of Technology This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. As a new sense of urgency to act ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Love, Hon Senior Fellow, Transport Health and Urban Design (THUD) Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne The Spanish city of Barcelona has pioneered an innovative approach to managing traffic, freeing up public space and promoting walking and cycling. The “superblocks” ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Govt makes business-friendly migrant worker changes, PM off overseas to talk trade, and the cost of Christchurch water in China revealed.A range of changes around the immigration system have been announced, reports Newshub. Among the biggest headline grabbers was the decision that ...
Open mike 31/03/2012 
Patrick Gower is good value when he's high. Not that I've ever, you know, got stoned with him. But in the second part of his documentary Patrick Gower on Weed, he does what you'd expect in a modern weed documentary and immerses himself – first with a doctor, then a ...2 hours ago
We surveyed candidates on their attitudes to issues facing the Western Bay Region, find out what they think: “Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues ...9 hours ago
Please spread widely, and sign, to support science and rationalism over the new irrationalism sweeping universities and institutions. PROJECT NETTIE Sexual reproduction, the generation of offspring by fusion of genetic material from two different individuals, evolved over 1 billion years ago. It is the reproductive strategy of all higher animals ...10 hours ago
Just when I was thinking that Palmerston North's mayoral race (which includes a convicted child molester / public wanker and a convicted child beater) was the worst in the country, Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere opened his mouth:Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is being slammed for using the words "sieg ...10 hours ago
Why is New Zealand climate change policy so crap? The Herald this morning has a long article on the twists and turns of climate change policy in New Zealand [paywalled / depaywall script], which shows where we've been. The short version is that the government first began worrying about this ...13 hours ago
The All Blacks have been, for more than a century, arguably the most successful International sports team in the world. But they are more than that; even for those Kiwis who are immune to the charms of rugby (and there are more than a few), the All Blacks are ambassadors ...16 hours ago
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In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...2 days ago
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Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...2 days ago
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...2 days ago
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...2 days ago
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...3 days ago
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...5 days ago
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...5 days ago
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...6 days ago
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...6 days ago
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...7 days ago
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...1 week ago
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ... 1 week ago
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...1 week ago
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...1 week ago
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...1 week ago
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...1 week ago
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...1 week ago
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...1 week ago
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...1 week ago
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...2 weeks ago
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...2 weeks ago
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...2 weeks ago
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ... 2 weeks ago
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning why, for the second time, Jacinda Ardern has appointed a Crown-owned company Chief Executive to Chair her “Business Advisory Council”, following her announcement that Mercury CEO Fraser Whineray ...6 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Rogue construction union boss John Setka is already in fights with the Labor party and the ACTU leadership. Now he faces a battle with parliament. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is moving to refer an ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paxton Loke, Paediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Spring has sprung and if you’re one of the one in five Australians who get hay fever, you’ve probably noticed some of those pesky symptoms: sneezing; an itchy, runny or stuffy nose; ...4 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: Alex Casey watches 2040, a climate change documentary determined to let the light in. I’ve seen enough documentaries about climate change to know what I don’t want to see anymore. I don’t want Leonardo DiCaprio stroking his goatee on a sheet of ice and saying “folks: it’s bad”. ...5 hours ago
Jacinda Ardern flies to New York with hope of action on the Christchurch Call and climate change. ...5 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: We need to broaden our measures of success if we want to have any chance of reaching blunt targets for reducing emissions, writes Catherine Leining.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Since 1992, multiple rounds of greenhouse gas ...6 hours ago
A Christchurch mayoral candidate is campaigning on environmental sustainability, but some of his hospitality businesses doesn't recycle. ...7 hours ago
Without targets, the Government will have a difficult task in defining whether the gun buyback is successful. Some say it’s impossible. ...7 hours ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Thousands of forest fires have been burning across Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra, disrupting air travel, closing schools and sickening thousands of people, reports the New York Times. Officials have said that about 80 per cent of the fires were intentionally set to make room for lucrative ...8 hours ago
The government has announced a plan to turn aquaculture into a $3 billion industry within 15 years. ...8 hours ago
After over a month of discussions, Kiingitanga has announced that mana whenua at Ihumātao want to keep the land. Fletcher Buildings still owns it, so what comes next in the movement to protect Ihumātao?After over a month of discussion between divided mana whenua over the land at Ihumātao, the Māori ...8 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, PhD Research Student, History & Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au. How big is the International Space Station? – Isla, aged 6, Australia. ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Lecturer Sport Management, Western Sydney University In March this year, photographer Michael Willson captured an image of AFL footballer Tayla Harris kicking for a goal. The image shows Harris in athletic flight, right leg extended skyward and muscles flexed as ...9 hours ago
It’s a hard road getting attention for outsider candidates in local elections. Alex Braae, writer of The Bulletin and stout defender of the political little guy, thought he’d lend a hand by moderating a rebel Wellington mayoral debate.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more ...9 hours ago
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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.