Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Lucky we have a marae that cares……..
‘Social agencies desperate to help their clients have joined the queues of people turning up at a south Auckland marae that opened its doors to the homeless.’
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
‘Housing New Zealand is evicting several tenants in Hamilton, just as Aucklanders are being offered $5000 to move into state homes there and in other provincial cities.
Angela Eastham, 49, who faces eviction this Friday, has multiple sclerosis and cares for a 21-year-old son with a brain injury and a 23-year-old autistic daughter.
Another family with four school-aged children faces eviction within 48 hours if Housing NZ wins a Tenancy Tribunal case this Thursday. The evictions come just days after Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett announced a scheme to pay up to $5000 for Aucklanders seeking social housing to move to the provinces from June 20.
She said Hamilton, Huntly, Ngaruawahia, Whanganui and Gisborne all had vacant state houses available.’
Musical chairs game by Paula Bennett. Unfortunately the wording is too true, Someone from Paula Bennett’s department announced that they will be offering the option of chairs placed near a public toilet and shower block for people evicted from houses. Some will even have sunlounges offering a shade for protection from the weather.
The comment from Bill English was that the National government is cognisant of the difficulties which some people are experiencing, and does not want to see them having to sleep in the streets and under bridges with no amenities.
/sarc
This is the Auckland marae that has acted to assist with emergency housing.
All those people so angry about the homeless situation could have a look to see what they can do in the interim to help until we can get real NZ politicians into Parliament instead of these marathon competitors in the Hunger Games.
If someone connected with the marae could start a GiveaLittle page for them, it would ease the burden on them to have some money as they are going to be run off their feet and putting so much time and resources into it that their own lives and families will suffer. They need help at Te Puea Memorial Marae. Can someone who knows them help them to do so, I think they would be accepted without difficulty. And while it is in the news, and people have it at the top of their minds, I think would be the most effective time to do it.
Meanwhile NZ the Neo liberal paradise has been rated the 4th most prosperous country in the world across the balance of 89 variables by the Legatum Institute global annual survey, 1 ahead of the left poster child Sweden.
News flash Paul having palpitation as he searches for new daily header to reflect reality
Why are Nordic countries rated so highly then, with nz, thus all very similar over 89 variables, are not the Nordic countries the poster child’s for social democracy Thus nz can hardly be a neo liberal nightmare and they not
Over a third of coral is dead in parts of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists say
‘We knew this was coming.
For months, coral reef experts have been loudly, and sometimes mournfully, announcing that much of the treasured Great Barrier Reef has been hit by “severe” coral bleaching, thanks to abnormally warm ocean waters.
Bleaching, though, isn’t the same as coral death. When symbiotic algae leave corals’ bodies and the animals then turn white or “bleach,” they can still bounce back if environmental conditions improve. The Great Barrier Reef has seen major bleaching in some of its sectors — particularly the more isolated northern reef — and the expectation has long been that this event would result in significant coral death, as well.
Now some of the first figures confirming that are coming in. Diving and aerial surveys of 84 reefs by scientists with the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia — the same researchers who recently documented at least some bleaching at 93 percent of individual reefs — have found that a striking 35 percent of corals have died in the northern and central sectors of the reef.’
To repeat…. because it needs repeating every night people repeat sleeping outside.
No wonder we don’t have enough houses to house the vulnerable… this government has sold them for fucks sake …… and let a couple hundred thousand more people into the country as well …
what the fuck did John Key expect?
What a complete dumbarse dope
. . . .
unless it was intentional ….. so that house prices would be driven high and the incumbent re-elected…. in that case it makes John Key a ……. traitor ……. amongst more and worse …..
. . . .
this entire situation is abominable and Key and his National Party members and supporters truly astounding.
Rising house prices which leads to increasing mortgages that feed in to the economy to produce a rising GDP and thus he, and National, would be able to proclaim a growing economy.
The reality is that a few people are getting richer on paper while the real economy collapses beneath them.
What if gorillas are a dying species and really precious to the earth. And we are fecund and destructive and harming other species. Perhaps we should shoot the boy, and his parents who are less alert than meerkats, and not as concerned in looking after their young as spiders.
Not all that hard. Somewhere around the “shoot the boy” and parent-blaming, your comment got routed through the “low probability of valuable content” filter and thereby avoided serious consideration 🙂
But but the reasoning is all factual. But the low probability of value content attention applies to anything really serious on blogs these days, hardly anyone can run their minds off the old familiar rails and gaze at a different landscape. they might encounter themselves. They don’t want to face that, and turn instead to the small and large brutalities on television, say Game of Thrones.
Hey, look, gorillas are one of the few non-human life-forms that approach my pet test for a sentience level we have a duty to preserve, which is “can they write a story about what they did on their summer holiday”.
But the fact is that an agitated gorilla can easily kill a kid by accident, even if it actually means to protect the sprog. And no parent is perfect at stopping their sprog doing something silly. Let’s say the gorilla was a human being who you couldn’t talk to for whatever reason, was growing agitated and was dragging a kid around by his ankle? Yeah, I wouldn’t judge a cop who shot the adult, or one who didn’t. It’s a shitty call to have to make, but sometimes there’s no winning move where everybody walks away unharmed.
“Distraction” is the wrong word, I think. It implies that people would watch and care about continued stories on Syrian refugees.
Many would just switch over to something else. It’s the difference between “hey, look over here, don’t look over there!” and “Bored now. What else will I look at?”
What has happened to the stunning news that Hilary Clinton/Clinton Foundation quite possibly will be indicted on Racketeering charges, it was breaking news yesterday and the FBI have said if the charges do not go ahead they will release their findings publicly anyway. Why aren’t our MSM all over this, even for just headline purposes, its not like they aren’t in the business of trying to break news. This will change completely the face of the upcoming presidential elections. It seems this is being swept under the carpet.
Another event which was swept under the carpet is the under/overpaying of accommodation supplement payments by our own government, and discovering it too close to an upcoming election and choosing to sweep it under the carpet. Is this becoming a common practice among our people in power?
I was listening to a podcast a few months ago about sexual abuse by Bill Clinton being covered up, and they recommended anyone who was in doubt about the Clinton’s shady dealings to read “Clinton Cash”, by Peter Schweizer.
It basically outlines how they profited into the millions by blurring the lines between charity, business and politics.
“General Sir Richard Shirreff is a high ranking retired British military General. He warns that nuclear war with Russia could happen within a year, if NATO doesn’t beef up its defence presence in the Baltic states.”
“Who is being aggressive? For the past few years the drumbeat for a conflict with Russia has been building almost to the point of hysteria. Now there is talk of a war – including a nuclear war – that could destroy civilization. On this edition of CrossTalk we ask who benefits from such dangerous talk.
CrossTalking with John Laughland, Nebojsa Malic, and Hall Gardner.”
‘Chomsky to RT: US and its NATO intervention force may spark nuclear war’
Gee, that’s a tough question, but my money’s on the one that invaded its neighbour’s territory and thereby made its other neighbours shit themselves. That seems pretty aggressive. Maybe if the fear of being forcibly absorbed into a Russian empire hadn’t been proved justified quite so often for these neighbours, they wouldn’t be clamouring for NATO protection in the wake of this latest instance – but what would I know?
That’s a pretty compelling argument you make there, One Two, but, comprehensive though it is, there are nevertheless a few things you could clarify for me:
1. Did the Russian Federation not annex Crimea and I just imagined it?
2. Russian military not fighting the Ukrainian military inside Ukraine, then?
3. Poland and the Baltic republics actually not keen for NATO to protect them from similar antics and just faking their concern, maybe?
4. Poland and the Baltics lack previous experience of being forcibly absorbed into a Russian empire and all the historians are wrong?
“A Czech veteran opposed to the “aggressive missions” of the US in Europe has decided to take a stand against the major drills across central and Eastern Europe by launching a semi-naked protest.
Martin Zapletal, a member of a group of Czech and Slovakian soldiers opposed to Nato, described the US soldiers as “aggressors, killers and occupiers” as Dragoon Ride II paraded through the country over the weekend…
1. Did the Russian Federation not annex Crimea and I just imagined it?
ANSW: Over 80% of the residents of Crimea, including the Tartars, voted to return to Russia.
Further, you gotta be dreaming if you think that Russia was about to let Sevastapol turn into a NATO base.
2. Russian military not fighting the Ukrainian military inside Ukraine, then?
ANSW:
Russian regular troops who asked were given leave from their units to fight a Ukraniain military that was attacking civilian towns and apartment blocks, in Eastern Ukraine, yes.
3. Poland and the Baltic republics actually not keen for NATO to protect them from similar antics and just faking their concern, maybe?
ANSW: NATO cannot protect these countries. The Baltic states in particular are totally indefensible. Further NATO is supposed to increase the security of its members – instead its actions moving armed forces right to Russia’s borders reduce the security of its member states.
Romania, due to the presence of the new US ABM system, has now made itself a strategic target in Russian military contingency plans.
4. Poland and the Baltics lack previous experience of being forcibly absorbed into a Russian empire and all the historians are wrong?
ANSW: Maybe you should remember your history. The Germans killed approx 27M Soviet citizens. That’s why the Soviet Union occupied those countries, as a buffer zone against future European aggression. Which is what Russia is facing right now.
Speaking of history, maybe you should also remember how France tried to sack Moscow under Napolean. European aggression against Russia has been the norm in history, not the other way around.
1. So, no I’m not imagining it.
2. So, yes Russia does have its military fighting Ukrainians in Ukraine.
3. Whether NATO will actually be able to protect those countries or not is irrelevant to the fact that they want somebody to protect them.
4. The people living in those countries find Soviet propaganda less credible than you do, obviously. I’ll take their word for it over yours any day. Also: these countries’ experience of Russian imperialism goes back way before Soviet times. They know their history a little better than you do.
You’re a fool if you believe the mood of the ordinary people on the streets of Riga and Vilnius is the same as the bought by USD political elite of those countries.
BTW people in the former eastern bloc countries have massively sensitive propaganda BS detectors because of their Warsaw Pact experience. Whereas us in the west, we’re stupid enough to believe that we’re not being propagandised so we don’t tend to look out for it.
Which is odd, because on The Standard, the theme of a highly biased pro-establishment narrative mass media, is taken for granted.
Been out doing vox pops, have you? Everything I’ve seen suggests no love for the Soviets and their modern counterparts in Poland or the Baltic republics. And they do indeed have powerful bullshit detectors, which is exactly why they don’t trust Putin and are looking to the defence of their countries.
But it will not allow Russia or China to run affairs even 1,000km from their own borders.
Your conspiracy theory that the Americans are “running affairs” in eastern Europe is merely comical; your belief that Russia and China have some kind of right to imperial power not comical at all.
Thats neatly countered Colonial Viper. You have been following your history.
Did you study it at uni or is it an interest of yours?
Our entire political team down here in Dunedin has an interest in history. You need to know some history or else contemporary politics becomes meaningless without context.
My interest is informal; I never studied history at university (my background is engineering and technical).
It certainly is important to look beyond the facile arguments that the RW come up with. Do you really know your stuff so well that it is 99% right?
I am convinced that the guts of it is right – minimum 85% to 90% right. Mostly it is just relaying things that the western style of propaganda (= propaganda by omission).
I like to read and listen to pieces by journalists and experts like Pilger, Hedges, Cohen, Wilkerson, Leveretts. These people are not pro-Russian, but they are definitely pro-reality.
Sigh. Germany putting 150 divisions there was “massing troops along the Russian border.” NATO having one armoured brigade rotate between six of Russia’s neighbours and maintaining around four divisions nowhere near Russia as a ready-reaction force, on the other hand, is not. You should spend less time on Russian propaganda sites, it’s leading you to present delusional fantasies as though they were facts.
Then try doing it. You’re fawning over someone who’s an apologist for a very ugly right-wing nationalist authoritarian regime in Russia.
Again, you are wrong here PM. Putin is a democratically elected and very centrist leader in Russia, and he is extremely popular for it, with personal approval ratings in the low to mid 80% range.
Try and find me a western leader with approval ratings anywhere near that figure. John Key was in the 60% range for a while, I guess.
And if you were at all genuinely concerned about “ugly right wing nationalist authoritarian regimes” you would be kicking the shit out of the government in Kiev, and their Stepan Bandera inspired paramilitary supporters, who have been using heavy weapons and terror tactics against their own citizens in eastern Ukraine for the last 3 years.
Sigh. Germany putting 150 divisions there was “massing troops along the Russian border.” NATO having one armoured brigade rotate between six of Russia’s neighbours and maintaining around four divisions nowhere near Russia as a ready-reaction force, on the other hand, is not.
Correct.
That singly NATO armoured brigade, I presume it is up to 2000 combat troops plus support personnel, has an effective fighting time span in a serious scrap with the Russians of under 12 hours. Being generous there. It’ll probably be 180 minutes or so.
The real threat to Russia is from the Romanian based US ABM system which uses interceptor missiles which can be nuclear tipped, and no one would ever know the difference. Not even the Romanians at the base. (Putin specifically mentioned this in a speech a couple of days ago).
That’s the real strategically destabilising factor that NATO has put on Russia’s door step.
NATO is supposed to make the environment more secure for its members; in fact it is doing exactly the opposite.
Putin is a democratically elected and very centrist leader in Russia…
So is Assad in Syria, according to you and Chooky.
…and he is extremely popular for it…
So was Hitler. These things in themselves mean little. Putin is in fact running a kleptocracy with no democratic or media oversight, in which nationalist authoritarianism is the dominant political approach and collaboration with the official Church hierarchy to promote order, obedience and conservative values is the dominant ideological approach. In political terms, he has more in common with General Franco than with any leaders of western democracies.
So was Hitler. These things in themselves mean little. Putin is in fact running a kleptocracy with no democratic or media oversight
Putin is an extremely popular leader – more popular than even our John Key – and United Russia won their internationally monitored elections fair and square.
And bear in mind that most of the Russians who do not support Putin…are people who think that he isn’t hard line enough and that he isn’t Communist enough.
Yes Putin is running a system where billionaire oligarchs have a lot of say in what happens in Russia…but sorry mate so does every western FVEY nation.
As for media oversight – you clearly have no idea. There is a strong Atlanticist leaning private sector mass media in Russia, both TV and in print.
And my understanding is that newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post are available on line in Russia, translated into Russian on the same day.
Bottom line is that the Russians do some pretty shite underhanded things for $$$, and their mid and local levels of government are often corrupt and utterly inefficient, but guess what, every country has shit that it needs to deal with.
A brief respite came Thursday — the day he cleared the number of delegates needed to be the nominee — when Trump gave his only scripted speech of the week at an energy conference in Bismarck, N.D. Standing between two teleprompters, Trump seemed to find his confidence not only as a winner but as the Republican nominee that many want him to be. Trump argued that returning to more use of coal and lifting environmental regulations are keys to making the nation wealthy again.
Rumour.. McDonald Trump will announce either Glenn Beck or Ronald Mcdonald as his running mate.
(To paraphrase Obama..”For Fox News people..that’s a Joke.”)
Watched some TV the other night for the first time in a long time, and…
…why anti-smoking ads (presumably) on the grounds its effects will afflict others, and why no high alcohol content ads on the grounds (presumably) that spirits won’t be doing you any favours (unlike ‘lolly water’ apparently) and yet – buy a car, a SUV, a 4WD or a whatever and fly to Australia or wherever for only $149 or whatever because carbon’s fine and global warming’s a big fat nothing, or maybe, if it’s not, we got it covered…(?)
…while 1000 homes in Auckland blank out off the back of some fairly normal wind and rain – again.
Chris Trotter did a piece on Labour, as he often does, taking the pulse, looking for rashes, and checking the health of eyes, ears, and throat, all important features in a capable and active politician.
These, interesting paragraphs – A genuinely “broad church” party of the Left would balance off Andrew Little with Hone Harawira, Jacinda Ardern with Laila Harré, Stuart Nash with John Minto, Kelvin Davis with Annette Sykes, Grant Robertson with Julie Anne Genter and Annette King with Metira Turei. The whole spectrum of alternative power: from Soft Centrists to Hard Leftists; would be covered.
That Labour’s fatal apostasy [the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle] has made such a caucus impossible is the besetting tragedy of progressive New Zealand politics. Its embrace of neoliberalism in the mid-1980s left Labour with the political equivalent of syphilis. Sadly, every one of the many attempts to administer the Penicillin of genuine progressivism (God bless you Jim, Rod, Laila!) was rejected. Consequently, Labour’s bones have crumbled and its brain has rotted. Small wonder that the other opposition parties are reluctant to get too close! https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/an-opposition-worthy-of-name.html
This coming year has got to sort out the sheep from the goats. We have to draw on the principles and the name of Savage and be resolute. This is the time of the Hunger Games, not the Disabled Games where if a competitor stumbles the others turn round to give aid in a spirit of friendly competition. The neo liberals won’t stop until they advance their theory and prove that it works, or doesn’t, and whoever gets hurt in the process will be considered to be not of the right stuff. Try looking at Cold Lazarus by Dennis Potter. Some will probably be on Youtube.
We have people against us who are ruthless, and prepared to divide off society into us and them, who will repeat the Highland Clearings on a huge scale, or who may start a crisis ending in war so they can repeat the Nasti experiment.
One of the most terrifying things of that was that it could happen at all, arising from a civilised country with great philosophers. Our minds are so plastic that they can adapt to any thought and rationalise it.
edited
If increasing taxes has no discernible effect on reducing smoking rates, then why keep doing it?
It seems that the diminishing returns have basically fallen to zero, so the reason for increasing the tax isn’t about reducing smoking. Is it down to:
A. racism?
B. another hit on the punishment pinata of poor life choices/bene bashing?
C. milking addicts for cash (Tax Cuts anyone)?
D. being seen to be doing something, cos if it worked before, it’ll work forever??
E. Tariana & the Maori Party wanted it?
I don’t know, but based on the research presented it seems suspect.
I didn’t see it, but wouldn’t be surprised. After all, the current government’s already made cigarettes worth robbing a dairy for, so it’s not like Labour bunging another tenner on the price would make things worse – might as well rake in the cash.
For extra points, King could spend the additional money collected on a commission of enquiry into why poor people don’t have any cash.
Back when you could buy individual cigarettes and they were only 900% excise tax by weight, an increase in tax would result in a reduction in use (initially in number of cigarettes/day, but then reduction in weight per rollie).
But the law of diminishing returns means that the effects are no longer as obvious. I’d also be intrigued if there’s any research as to the size of the tobacco black market – it grows just as capably as dope in NZ.
The G7’s problems show that many of us have recognised that trade deals have made the world a playground for the super-rich – they are part of our staggeringly unequal economy. But the G7 is unable to think beyond the interests of the world’s elite. It’s up to us to reclaim our democracy as citizens, and the movements against TTIP and Ceta are the frontline.
What? Frozen? In 2014 this was the news:
RNZ in ‘decent shape’ despite funds freeze | Stuff.co.nz http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/…/RNZ-in-decent-shape-despite-funds-freeze
May 8, 2014 – Despite suffering frozen funds for the past six years, RNZ chief executive Paul … RNZ chairman Richard Griffin said financial constraints meant the broadcaster …
RNZ had about 500,000 regular listeners but wanted to double that in 10 years.
Forty per cent of RNZ’s listeners were older than 65, and mostly Pakeha.
30 May 2016
More ice for Radio NZ in Budget « LiveNews.co.nz
livenews.co.nz/2016/05/30/more-ice-for-radio-nz-in-budget/
1 day ago – Budget 2016 once again left our only public broadcaster, Radio NZ (RNZ), worse off. After eight years of funding freezes, you have to wonder if RNZ is being … The Government, however, has frozen RNZ’s budget at 2008 levels, which means … The current National-led Government may be actively de-prioritising its role, but …
Comment – from Geoff Simmons economist for Morgan Foundation on NBR (originally on Gareths World.) ‘Pass the parcel on’ >… and
(Tune into NBR Radio’s Sunday Business with Andrew Patterson on Sunday morning, for analysis and feature-length interviews.) The budget freeze on Radio NZ continues, the clear decline in public interest journalism elsewhere. It must be time for a rethink of this sector.
Meanwhile, there is almost $500m extra for defence and intelligence. Priorities…
apparently the govt calling for public submissions for what should be printed on plain packaged tobacco lol does this mean us smokers are gonna be treated to reading hate messages from all the health snobs out there ?…such as die you bastards how dare you try an take the easy way out when we all have to live forever !!You gotta laugh by calling for submissions they make the whole process sound like its democracy in action rather than a fascist subjugation of the rights of 500 thousand newzealanders !! you gotta laugh when prob at least a third of the population is on a form of happy pill acceptable because youre local quack dispenses it and while rot gut fizzy drink is peddled in enormous quantities to the poorest members of our society at a cheaper than cheap price and the consumtion of this muck despite health officials repeatedly stating the very serious connection to obesity not a word is said against it .It just shows the power of lobbyists ie the maori party ash etc and the short sighted righteousness of the health snob.
We can afford another embassy in South America. The one in Colombia will cost some tens of millions over two years, and give us about five down there.
I remember the touching scene when David Lange returned to the one in India closed down by the cheese parers, and the previous caretaker was still in a little hut keeping guard waiting for our return.
Now we are adding Colombia to our set though we only do some tens of millions of trade with them each year. I hope the trade will match the cost. Or perhaps the USA sees it as a strategic point in their fight against drugs and General Mayhem (or one of the Generals somewhere), They might have said to us you are a good little ally and you can open an embassy and keep us covered on events through 5Eyes. Heres something towards the cost.
“Marxist economist and game theorist Yanis Varoufakis confided in crowds gathered at a Welsh arts festival on Monday that he has some admiration for the late ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, despite largely viewing her legacy as damaging…
He had been invited to discuss the origins of the eurozone crisis, the relentless Troika (European Central Bank-International Monetary Fund-European Commission) austerity that followed, and a potential path ahead for Europe and Greece.
Reflecting on commentary Thatcher once gave on the European Central Bank (ECB), he said it was the “most pertinent” ever made.
“It was a very nuanced and sophisticated criticism – who controls interest rates in Europe controls the politics of Europe, and that money cannot be depoliticized,” he added…
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Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
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Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
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Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Lucky we have a marae that cares……..
‘Social agencies desperate to help their clients have joined the queues of people turning up at a south Auckland marae that opened its doors to the homeless.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/305224/social-workers-go-to-marae-for-help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reNBonIh-UU
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
‘Housing New Zealand is evicting several tenants in Hamilton, just as Aucklanders are being offered $5000 to move into state homes there and in other provincial cities.
Angela Eastham, 49, who faces eviction this Friday, has multiple sclerosis and cares for a 21-year-old son with a brain injury and a 23-year-old autistic daughter.
Another family with four school-aged children faces eviction within 48 hours if Housing NZ wins a Tenancy Tribunal case this Thursday. The evictions come just days after Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett announced a scheme to pay up to $5000 for Aucklanders seeking social housing to move to the provinces from June 20.
She said Hamilton, Huntly, Ngaruawahia, Whanganui and Gisborne all had vacant state houses available.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11647724
Nat led HCC recently flogged their rental housing….join the dots folks.
Musical chairs game by Paula Bennett. Unfortunately the wording is too true, Someone from Paula Bennett’s department announced that they will be offering the option of chairs placed near a public toilet and shower block for people evicted from houses. Some will even have sunlounges offering a shade for protection from the weather.
The comment from Bill English was that the National government is cognisant of the difficulties which some people are experiencing, and does not want to see them having to sleep in the streets and under bridges with no amenities.
/sarc
https://www.facebook.com/Te-Puea-Memorial-Marae-Manaaki-Tangata-1622950467990826/timeline
This is the Auckland marae that has acted to assist with emergency housing.
All those people so angry about the homeless situation could have a look to see what they can do in the interim to help until we can get real NZ politicians into Parliament instead of these marathon competitors in the Hunger Games.
If someone connected with the marae could start a GiveaLittle page for them, it would ease the burden on them to have some money as they are going to be run off their feet and putting so much time and resources into it that their own lives and families will suffer. They need help at Te Puea Memorial Marae. Can someone who knows them help them to do so, I think they would be accepted without difficulty. And while it is in the news, and people have it at the top of their minds, I think would be the most effective time to do it.
Meanwhile NZ the Neo liberal paradise has been rated the 4th most prosperous country in the world across the balance of 89 variables by the Legatum Institute global annual survey, 1 ahead of the left poster child Sweden.
News flash Paul having palpitation as he searches for new daily header to reflect reality
Legatum Institum is a think tank of the neoliberal cult.
Of course it likes New Zealand.
Why are Nordic countries rated so highly then, with nz, thus all very similar over 89 variables, are not the Nordic countries the poster child’s for social democracy Thus nz can hardly be a neo liberal nightmare and they not
Over a third of coral is dead in parts of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists say
‘We knew this was coming.
For months, coral reef experts have been loudly, and sometimes mournfully, announcing that much of the treasured Great Barrier Reef has been hit by “severe” coral bleaching, thanks to abnormally warm ocean waters.
Bleaching, though, isn’t the same as coral death. When symbiotic algae leave corals’ bodies and the animals then turn white or “bleach,” they can still bounce back if environmental conditions improve. The Great Barrier Reef has seen major bleaching in some of its sectors — particularly the more isolated northern reef — and the expectation has long been that this event would result in significant coral death, as well.
Now some of the first figures confirming that are coming in. Diving and aerial surveys of 84 reefs by scientists with the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia — the same researchers who recently documented at least some bleaching at 93 percent of individual reefs — have found that a striking 35 percent of corals have died in the northern and central sectors of the reef.’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/05/29/a-whole-new-ballgame-scientists-find-35-percent-coral-death-in-parts-of-great-barrier-reef/
Climate Change Infographic
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3059791/infographic-of-the-day/climate-change-charted-as-a-haunting-death-spiral
To repeat…. because it needs repeating every night people repeat sleeping outside.
No wonder we don’t have enough houses to house the vulnerable… this government has sold them for fucks sake …… and let a couple hundred thousand more people into the country as well …
what the fuck did John Key expect?
What a complete dumbarse dope
. . . .
unless it was intentional ….. so that house prices would be driven high and the incumbent re-elected…. in that case it makes John Key a ……. traitor ……. amongst more and worse …..
. . . .
this entire situation is abominable and Key and his National Party members and supporters truly astounding.
Fuck the National Party
+1000
I’m guessing migrants tend to vote National too.
Rising house prices which leads to increasing mortgages that feed in to the economy to produce a rising GDP and thus he, and National, would be able to proclaim a growing economy.
The reality is that a few people are getting richer on paper while the real economy collapses beneath them.
And some ‘happy’ news for stunned mullet and red delusion.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/80532662/new-zealand-rowers-looking-good-for-rio-olympics-after-world-cup-medal-haul
Remember, don’t look. Keep the tinted windows down.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxFLanNCIAALuMe.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjkfqbXVAAAnbo3.png:large
happy I am living rent free in your head Paul, saying that it is very drafty in here, plenty of vacant space 😀
Keep the tinted windows down.
Lock up your gated community.
Your repeating yourself Paul ( you have used tinted windows) simply saying the same rubbish moronically day after day does not make it so
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/07/reducing-food-waste-would-mitigate-climate-change-study-shows
The third biggest GHG emitter is food waste. Who knew?
You know, the ‘free-market’ is supposed to eliminate waste. So far, though, all I’ve seen is increasing amounts of it.
I would guess its a first world problem .
Some of us are deceived and distracted by the daily struggles of living in our current zeitgeist. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Sorry for the dead Gorrilla, but at least it distracts from Syrian children drowning in the Club Med Sea.
I reckon if someone had gone up to the cage (like the child’s mother) and asked, then the gorilla would have simply given the boy back …………..
we eternally under-estimate the non-human kingdom inhabitants..
What if gorillas are a dying species and really precious to the earth. And we are fecund and destructive and harming other species. Perhaps we should shoot the boy, and his parents who are less alert than meerkats, and not as concerned in looking after their young as spiders.
Now it’s hard to be objective isn’t it.
Not all that hard. Somewhere around the “shoot the boy” and parent-blaming, your comment got routed through the “low probability of valuable content” filter and thereby avoided serious consideration 🙂
But but the reasoning is all factual. But the low probability of value content attention applies to anything really serious on blogs these days, hardly anyone can run their minds off the old familiar rails and gaze at a different landscape. they might encounter themselves. They don’t want to face that, and turn instead to the small and large brutalities on television, say Game of Thrones.
Hey, look, gorillas are one of the few non-human life-forms that approach my pet test for a sentience level we have a duty to preserve, which is “can they write a story about what they did on their summer holiday”.
But the fact is that an agitated gorilla can easily kill a kid by accident, even if it actually means to protect the sprog. And no parent is perfect at stopping their sprog doing something silly. Let’s say the gorilla was a human being who you couldn’t talk to for whatever reason, was growing agitated and was dragging a kid around by his ankle? Yeah, I wouldn’t judge a cop who shot the adult, or one who didn’t. It’s a shitty call to have to make, but sometimes there’s no winning move where everybody walks away unharmed.
“Distraction” is the wrong word, I think. It implies that people would watch and care about continued stories on Syrian refugees.
Many would just switch over to something else. It’s the difference between “hey, look over here, don’t look over there!” and “Bored now. What else will I look at?”
We’re guilty of shooting first ask questions later too. Build motorways, imprison poachers, pollute rivers, etc etc.
What has happened to the stunning news that Hilary Clinton/Clinton Foundation quite possibly will be indicted on Racketeering charges, it was breaking news yesterday and the FBI have said if the charges do not go ahead they will release their findings publicly anyway. Why aren’t our MSM all over this, even for just headline purposes, its not like they aren’t in the business of trying to break news. This will change completely the face of the upcoming presidential elections. It seems this is being swept under the carpet.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
Another event which was swept under the carpet is the under/overpaying of accommodation supplement payments by our own government, and discovering it too close to an upcoming election and choosing to sweep it under the carpet. Is this becoming a common practice among our people in power?
I was listening to a podcast a few months ago about sexual abuse by Bill Clinton being covered up, and they recommended anyone who was in doubt about the Clinton’s shady dealings to read “Clinton Cash”, by Peter Schweizer.
It basically outlines how they profited into the millions by blurring the lines between charity, business and politics.
Now check this out….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVvZ59Se0WA&feature=youtu.be
Peter Schweizer. Good friend of the mad Glenn Beck and equally crazy Sarah Palin.
Take a grain of salt!
Schweizer’s a serial bullshitter.
http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/04/20/clinton-cash-author-peter-schweizers-long-histo/203209
The Clintons are career criminals
+100
+100
Distraction update;
Gooners trougher sidekick mrs soper has been slagging off ngarawhaia and giving the waikato times an excuse to front page a nothing story.
If you really cared, instead of looking for an excuse for a bleat, you would have spelt Ngāruawāhia properly.
To counter RNZ cold war propaganda interview against Russia below (remember NATO destroyed Libya):
‘Top brass warns NATO on course for war with Russia’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201802711/top-brass-warns-nato-on-course-for-war-with-russia
“General Sir Richard Shirreff is a high ranking retired British military General. He warns that nuclear war with Russia could happen within a year, if NATO doesn’t beef up its defence presence in the Baltic states.”
…and the contrary view to give some balance:
‘Who’s aggressive?’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/344555-russia-conflict-war-benefits/
“Who is being aggressive? For the past few years the drumbeat for a conflict with Russia has been building almost to the point of hysteria. Now there is talk of a war – including a nuclear war – that could destroy civilization. On this edition of CrossTalk we ask who benefits from such dangerous talk.
CrossTalking with John Laughland, Nebojsa Malic, and Hall Gardner.”
‘Chomsky to RT: US and its NATO intervention force may spark nuclear war’
https://www.rt.com/news/203055-us-russia-war-chomsky/
‘Chomsky: NATO is a U.S.-run intervention force’
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/202967-cold-nuclear-war-nato/
‘Who’s aggressive?’
Gee, that’s a tough question, but my money’s on the one that invaded its neighbour’s territory and thereby made its other neighbours shit themselves. That seems pretty aggressive. Maybe if the fear of being forcibly absorbed into a Russian empire hadn’t been proved justified quite so often for these neighbours, they wouldn’t be clamouring for NATO protection in the wake of this latest instance – but what would I know?
You know nothing, as you pointed out!
That’s a pretty compelling argument you make there, One Two, but, comprehensive though it is, there are nevertheless a few things you could clarify for me:
1. Did the Russian Federation not annex Crimea and I just imagined it?
2. Russian military not fighting the Ukrainian military inside Ukraine, then?
3. Poland and the Baltic republics actually not keen for NATO to protect them from similar antics and just faking their concern, maybe?
4. Poland and the Baltics lack previous experience of being forcibly absorbed into a Russian empire and all the historians are wrong?
‘Czech veteran moons US convoy in anti-Nato protest (VIDEO)’
https://www.rt.com/news/344863-czech-veteran-moons-usarmy/
“A Czech veteran opposed to the “aggressive missions” of the US in Europe has decided to take a stand against the major drills across central and Eastern Europe by launching a semi-naked protest.
Martin Zapletal, a member of a group of Czech and Slovakian soldiers opposed to Nato, described the US soldiers as “aggressors, killers and occupiers” as Dragoon Ride II paraded through the country over the weekend…
1. Did the Russian Federation not annex Crimea and I just imagined it?
ANSW: Over 80% of the residents of Crimea, including the Tartars, voted to return to Russia.
Further, you gotta be dreaming if you think that Russia was about to let Sevastapol turn into a NATO base.
2. Russian military not fighting the Ukrainian military inside Ukraine, then?
ANSW:
Russian regular troops who asked were given leave from their units to fight a Ukraniain military that was attacking civilian towns and apartment blocks, in Eastern Ukraine, yes.
3. Poland and the Baltic republics actually not keen for NATO to protect them from similar antics and just faking their concern, maybe?
ANSW: NATO cannot protect these countries. The Baltic states in particular are totally indefensible. Further NATO is supposed to increase the security of its members – instead its actions moving armed forces right to Russia’s borders reduce the security of its member states.
Romania, due to the presence of the new US ABM system, has now made itself a strategic target in Russian military contingency plans.
4. Poland and the Baltics lack previous experience of being forcibly absorbed into a Russian empire and all the historians are wrong?
ANSW: Maybe you should remember your history. The Germans killed approx 27M Soviet citizens. That’s why the Soviet Union occupied those countries, as a buffer zone against future European aggression. Which is what Russia is facing right now.
Speaking of history, maybe you should also remember how France tried to sack Moscow under Napolean. European aggression against Russia has been the norm in history, not the other way around.
+100…well said CV
Over the last 70 years Washington DC has gotten used to run affairs in foreign nations 10,000km from its own borders.
But it will not allow Russia or China to run affairs even 1,000km from their own borders.
1. So, no I’m not imagining it.
2. So, yes Russia does have its military fighting Ukrainians in Ukraine.
3. Whether NATO will actually be able to protect those countries or not is irrelevant to the fact that they want somebody to protect them.
4. The people living in those countries find Soviet propaganda less credible than you do, obviously. I’ll take their word for it over yours any day. Also: these countries’ experience of Russian imperialism goes back way before Soviet times. They know their history a little better than you do.
You’re a fool if you believe the mood of the ordinary people on the streets of Riga and Vilnius is the same as the bought by USD political elite of those countries.
BTW people in the former eastern bloc countries have massively sensitive propaganda BS detectors because of their Warsaw Pact experience. Whereas us in the west, we’re stupid enough to believe that we’re not being propagandised so we don’t tend to look out for it.
Which is odd, because on The Standard, the theme of a highly biased pro-establishment narrative mass media, is taken for granted.
Been out doing vox pops, have you? Everything I’ve seen suggests no love for the Soviets and their modern counterparts in Poland or the Baltic republics. And they do indeed have powerful bullshit detectors, which is exactly why they don’t trust Putin and are looking to the defence of their countries.
But it will not allow Russia or China to run affairs even 1,000km from their own borders.
Your conspiracy theory that the Americans are “running affairs” in eastern Europe is merely comical; your belief that Russia and China have some kind of right to imperial power not comical at all.
Thats neatly countered Colonial Viper. You have been following your history.
Did you study it at uni or is it an interest of yours?
It certainly is important to look beyond the facile arguments that the RW come up with. Do you really know your stuff so well that it is 99% right?
Our entire political team down here in Dunedin has an interest in history. You need to know some history or else contemporary politics becomes meaningless without context.
My interest is informal; I never studied history at university (my background is engineering and technical).
I am convinced that the guts of it is right – minimum 85% to 90% right. Mostly it is just relaying things that the western style of propaganda (= propaganda by omission).
I like to read and listen to pieces by journalists and experts like Pilger, Hedges, Cohen, Wilkerson, Leveretts. These people are not pro-Russian, but they are definitely pro-reality.
Thanks for that CV. I have paid attention to your thoughts which seemed far seeing. So good to know the provenance!
It certainly is important to look beyond the facile arguments that the RW come up with.
Then try doing it. You’re fawning over someone who’s an apologist for a very ugly right-wing nationalist authoritarian regime in Russia.
actually I would have thought this description applied to you …
” someone who’s an apologist for a very ugly right-wing nationalist authoritarian regime”
‘NATO masses troops along Russian border, war becomes possible scenario – peace movement leader’
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/344551-nato-planes-montenegro-conflict/
NATO masses troops along Russian border…
Sigh. Germany putting 150 divisions there was “massing troops along the Russian border.” NATO having one armoured brigade rotate between six of Russia’s neighbours and maintaining around four divisions nowhere near Russia as a ready-reaction force, on the other hand, is not. You should spend less time on Russian propaganda sites, it’s leading you to present delusional fantasies as though they were facts.
Again, you are wrong here PM. Putin is a democratically elected and very centrist leader in Russia, and he is extremely popular for it, with personal approval ratings in the low to mid 80% range.
Try and find me a western leader with approval ratings anywhere near that figure. John Key was in the 60% range for a while, I guess.
And if you were at all genuinely concerned about “ugly right wing nationalist authoritarian regimes” you would be kicking the shit out of the government in Kiev, and their Stepan Bandera inspired paramilitary supporters, who have been using heavy weapons and terror tactics against their own citizens in eastern Ukraine for the last 3 years.
Correct.
That singly NATO armoured brigade, I presume it is up to 2000 combat troops plus support personnel, has an effective fighting time span in a serious scrap with the Russians of under 12 hours. Being generous there. It’ll probably be 180 minutes or so.
The real threat to Russia is from the Romanian based US ABM system which uses interceptor missiles which can be nuclear tipped, and no one would ever know the difference. Not even the Romanians at the base. (Putin specifically mentioned this in a speech a couple of days ago).
That’s the real strategically destabilising factor that NATO has put on Russia’s door step.
NATO is supposed to make the environment more secure for its members; in fact it is doing exactly the opposite.
Putin is a democratically elected and very centrist leader in Russia…
So is Assad in Syria, according to you and Chooky.
…and he is extremely popular for it…
So was Hitler. These things in themselves mean little. Putin is in fact running a kleptocracy with no democratic or media oversight, in which nationalist authoritarianism is the dominant political approach and collaboration with the official Church hierarchy to promote order, obedience and conservative values is the dominant ideological approach. In political terms, he has more in common with General Franco than with any leaders of western democracies.
Putin is an extremely popular leader – more popular than even our John Key – and United Russia won their internationally monitored elections fair and square.
And bear in mind that most of the Russians who do not support Putin…are people who think that he isn’t hard line enough and that he isn’t Communist enough.
Yes Putin is running a system where billionaire oligarchs have a lot of say in what happens in Russia…but sorry mate so does every western FVEY nation.
As for media oversight – you clearly have no idea. There is a strong Atlanticist leaning private sector mass media in Russia, both TV and in print.
And my understanding is that newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post are available on line in Russia, translated into Russian on the same day.
Bottom line is that the Russians do some pretty shite underhanded things for $$$, and their mid and local levels of government are often corrupt and utterly inefficient, but guess what, every country has shit that it needs to deal with.
+100 greywarshark
Chooky
Thanks for defending me from the psycho melt-down.
‘Kusturica: Why does NATO still exist? To fight terrorism? It’s laughable!’
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/emir-kusturica-europe-russia-296/
‘NATO’s “Humanitarian Intervention” in Libya: A Premeditated Geostrategic Operation’
http://www.globalresearch.ca/natos-humanitarian-intervention-in-libya-a-premeditated-geostrategic-operation/5482662
Coal, lots and lots of coal.
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A brief respite came Thursday — the day he cleared the number of delegates needed to be the nominee — when Trump gave his only scripted speech of the week at an energy conference in Bismarck, N.D. Standing between two teleprompters, Trump seemed to find his confidence not only as a winner but as the Republican nominee that many want him to be. Trump argued that returning to more use of coal and lifting environmental regulations are keys to making the nation wealthy again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/even-in-victory-donald-trump-cant-stop-airing-his-grievances/2016/05/29/a5f7a566-2526-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html
Rumour.. McDonald Trump will announce either Glenn Beck or Ronald Mcdonald as his running mate.
(To paraphrase Obama..”For Fox News people..that’s a Joke.”)
Watched some TV the other night for the first time in a long time, and…
…why anti-smoking ads (presumably) on the grounds its effects will afflict others, and why no high alcohol content ads on the grounds (presumably) that spirits won’t be doing you any favours (unlike ‘lolly water’ apparently) and yet – buy a car, a SUV, a 4WD or a whatever and fly to Australia or wherever for only $149 or whatever because carbon’s fine and global warming’s a big fat nothing, or maybe, if it’s not, we got it covered…(?)
…while 1000 homes in Auckland blank out off the back of some fairly normal wind and rain – again.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/80503311/strong-winds-down-trees-cut-power-to-auckland-homes
Words failing…
John Key knows money is created out of thin air. He has done it for 20 years and is still at it! Here is how it’s done.
Chris Trotter did a piece on Labour, as he often does, taking the pulse, looking for rashes, and checking the health of eyes, ears, and throat, all important features in a capable and active politician.
These, interesting paragraphs –
A genuinely “broad church” party of the Left would balance off Andrew Little with Hone Harawira, Jacinda Ardern with Laila Harré, Stuart Nash with John Minto, Kelvin Davis with Annette Sykes, Grant Robertson with Julie Anne Genter and Annette King with Metira Turei. The whole spectrum of alternative power: from Soft Centrists to Hard Leftists; would be covered.
That Labour’s fatal apostasy [the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle] has made such a caucus impossible is the besetting tragedy of progressive New Zealand politics. Its embrace of neoliberalism in the mid-1980s left Labour with the political equivalent of syphilis. Sadly, every one of the many attempts to administer the Penicillin of genuine progressivism (God bless you Jim, Rod, Laila!) was rejected. Consequently, Labour’s bones have crumbled and its brain has rotted. Small wonder that the other opposition parties are reluctant to get too close!
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/an-opposition-worthy-of-name.html
This coming year has got to sort out the sheep from the goats. We have to draw on the principles and the name of Savage and be resolute. This is the time of the Hunger Games, not the Disabled Games where if a competitor stumbles the others turn round to give aid in a spirit of friendly competition. The neo liberals won’t stop until they advance their theory and prove that it works, or doesn’t, and whoever gets hurt in the process will be considered to be not of the right stuff. Try looking at Cold Lazarus by Dennis Potter. Some will probably be on Youtube.
We have people against us who are ruthless, and prepared to divide off society into us and them, who will repeat the Highland Clearings on a huge scale, or who may start a crisis ending in war so they can repeat the Nasti experiment.
One of the most terrifying things of that was that it could happen at all, arising from a civilised country with great philosophers. Our minds are so plastic that they can adapt to any thought and rationalise it.
edited
Labour-Green Announcement 3.10 pm. Looking up, feeling better.
New Zealand’s leading Maori tobacco researcher says National’s tobacco tax increases racist?
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11647467
And Labour welcomed this?
Isn’t that a kick in the face for the strong support Maori gave Labour at the last election?
Thoughts?
It’s a good point raised.
If increasing taxes has no discernible effect on reducing smoking rates, then why keep doing it?
It seems that the diminishing returns have basically fallen to zero, so the reason for increasing the tax isn’t about reducing smoking. Is it down to:
A. racism?
B. another hit on the punishment pinata of poor life choices/bene bashing?
C. milking addicts for cash (Tax Cuts anyone)?
D. being seen to be doing something, cos if it worked before, it’ll work forever??
E. Tariana & the Maori Party wanted it?
I don’t know, but based on the research presented it seems suspect.
Mostly C, to a lesser extent E. I presume Labour supports it because it intends doing quite a bit of C when it’s the government again.
Didn’t King suggest the possibility of Labour doing that (further tax increases on tobacco) the other day?
I didn’t see it, but wouldn’t be surprised. After all, the current government’s already made cigarettes worth robbing a dairy for, so it’s not like Labour bunging another tenner on the price would make things worse – might as well rake in the cash.
For extra points, King could spend the additional money collected on a commission of enquiry into why poor people don’t have any cash.
we are going to tax you for your own well being
Dairy owners are very concerned about their well being.
Will Labour use the extra tax intake to also increase the police budget?
Corrections will also require more.
Might have to let prisoners smoke again for the $$$
I hear they smoke tea-leaves mixed with nicotine patches.
Good points. A bit of analysis applied to the no tobacco meme can go a long way. Perhaps try another path.
What psycho milt said, but also a bit of D.
Back when you could buy individual cigarettes and they were only 900% excise tax by weight, an increase in tax would result in a reduction in use (initially in number of cigarettes/day, but then reduction in weight per rollie).
But the law of diminishing returns means that the effects are no longer as obvious. I’d also be intrigued if there’s any research as to the size of the tobacco black market – it grows just as capably as dope in NZ.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/30/ttip-trade-deal-agreements-ceta-eu-canada
The G7’s problems show that many of us have recognised that trade deals have made the world a playground for the super-rich – they are part of our staggeringly unequal economy. But the G7 is unable to think beyond the interests of the world’s elite. It’s up to us to reclaim our democracy as citizens, and the movements against TTIP and Ceta are the frontline.
Eight year freeze to funding of Radio NZ.
Maori TV get 4 million boost.
He who pays the piper….
What? Frozen? In 2014 this was the news:
RNZ in ‘decent shape’ despite funds freeze | Stuff.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/…/RNZ-in-decent-shape-despite-funds-freeze
May 8, 2014 – Despite suffering frozen funds for the past six years, RNZ chief executive Paul … RNZ chairman Richard Griffin said financial constraints meant the broadcaster …
RNZ had about 500,000 regular listeners but wanted to double that in 10 years.
Forty per cent of RNZ’s listeners were older than 65, and mostly Pakeha.
30 May 2016
More ice for Radio NZ in Budget « LiveNews.co.nz
livenews.co.nz/2016/05/30/more-ice-for-radio-nz-in-budget/
1 day ago – Budget 2016 once again left our only public broadcaster, Radio NZ (RNZ), worse off. After eight years of funding freezes, you have to wonder if RNZ is being … The Government, however, has frozen RNZ’s budget at 2008 levels, which means … The current National-led Government may be actively de-prioritising its role, but …
Comment – from Geoff Simmons economist for Morgan Foundation on NBR (originally on Gareths World.) ‘Pass the parcel on’ >… and
(Tune into NBR Radio’s Sunday Business with Andrew Patterson on Sunday morning, for analysis and feature-length interviews.)
The budget freeze on Radio NZ continues, the clear decline in public interest journalism elsewhere. It must be time for a rethink of this sector.
Meanwhile, there is almost $500m extra for defence and intelligence. Priorities…
Tim Watkin leaving as Producer of TV3 The Nation, joining RNZ.
apparently the govt calling for public submissions for what should be printed on plain packaged tobacco lol does this mean us smokers are gonna be treated to reading hate messages from all the health snobs out there ?…such as die you bastards how dare you try an take the easy way out when we all have to live forever !!You gotta laugh by calling for submissions they make the whole process sound like its democracy in action rather than a fascist subjugation of the rights of 500 thousand newzealanders !! you gotta laugh when prob at least a third of the population is on a form of happy pill acceptable because youre local quack dispenses it and while rot gut fizzy drink is peddled in enormous quantities to the poorest members of our society at a cheaper than cheap price and the consumtion of this muck despite health officials repeatedly stating the very serious connection to obesity not a word is said against it .It just shows the power of lobbyists ie the maori party ash etc and the short sighted righteousness of the health snob.
Anything that stops a teen starting is all good with me.
We can afford another embassy in South America. The one in Colombia will cost some tens of millions over two years, and give us about five down there.
I remember the touching scene when David Lange returned to the one in India closed down by the cheese parers, and the previous caretaker was still in a little hut keeping guard waiting for our return.
Now we are adding Colombia to our set though we only do some tens of millions of trade with them each year. I hope the trade will match the cost. Or perhaps the USA sees it as a strategic point in their fight against drugs and General Mayhem (or one of the Generals somewhere), They might have said to us you are a good little ally and you can open an embassy and keep us covered on events through 5Eyes. Heres something towards the cost.
Colombia is a colony of the USA, don’t know why we would need extra representation there.
Unless it’s a cover for a FVEY base of operations.
Praise for Thatcher from an unusual source
‘Varoufakis: Thatcher’s criticism of ECB was sophisticated, pertinent’
https://www.rt.com/uk/344964-varoufakis-thatcher-praise-ecb/
“Marxist economist and game theorist Yanis Varoufakis confided in crowds gathered at a Welsh arts festival on Monday that he has some admiration for the late ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, despite largely viewing her legacy as damaging…
He had been invited to discuss the origins of the eurozone crisis, the relentless Troika (European Central Bank-International Monetary Fund-European Commission) austerity that followed, and a potential path ahead for Europe and Greece.
Reflecting on commentary Thatcher once gave on the European Central Bank (ECB), he said it was the “most pertinent” ever made.
“It was a very nuanced and sophisticated criticism – who controls interest rates in Europe controls the politics of Europe, and that money cannot be depoliticized,” he added…