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,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
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The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news media’s crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
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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.