Open Mike 31/08/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 31st, 2017 - 130 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

130 comments on “Open Mike 31/08/2017 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Muttonbird 1
    31 August 2017 at 6:47 am

    Vernon Small on what little the National Party and their private state service lapdogs have learned in the past 3 years. He quotes himself from 2014 and 2015:

    “The ‘no surprises’ rule … is being stretched, distorted and subverted into something much worse that ought to worry the public and (then-State Services Commissioner Iain) Rennie.

    No surprises has morphed into ‘no embarrassment’ and has reached the next stage of evolution – ‘how can we help you avoid embarrassment?’.

    The next tentative steps on the journey are already being taken: ‘how we can help you overcome the Opposition?’ ”

    A year later, in 2015, after some questionable use of the Official Information Act:

    “This latest cluster-failure feeds the suspicion officials are less interested in merely adhering to the principle of ‘no surprises’ … but are distorting it into ‘no embarrassments’ and now into a proactive policy of political assistance by hiding information that could be damaging to the Government.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/96306749/peters-pension-saga-delivers-embarrassed-government-no-surprises-there

    Given how close Farrar and Williams are to Seymour and how much they knew early, is it too far to suggest Seymour is the leaker? Under Small’s criteria for the leaker Seymour certainly qualifies as ‘no genius’.

    • Incognito 1.1
      31 August 2017 at 7:40 am

      I think it is possible and even plausible that Peters is the ‘leaker’, as I have explained before.

      It has given him a huge platform (and moral high ground) to run the election campaign of his life.

      We’ll see who is coming out smelling of roses but so far Peters is doing extremely well out of it …

      • ianmac 1.1.1
        31 August 2017 at 9:04 am

        That does not sound credible to me Incognito. Sounds like a deflection. Wonder why you would?

        • tracey 1.1.1.1
          31 August 2017 at 12:12 pm

          Only a few days ago farrar and Hooton were gossiping about a green party sympathising data operator… now it is Peters himself!

          • lprent 1.1.1.1.1
            31 August 2017 at 1:35 pm

            …farrar and Hooton were gossiping…

            Yeah, the smear spinners seem quite desperate in their search for any other source apart from some the likely National people being criminal arseholes playing dirty politics. It might highlight themselves too much eh?

      • mac1 1.1.2
        31 August 2017 at 9:42 am

        Most implausible if you listen to the interview on RNZ. Unless, of course, Peters is a brilliant actor. If Peters had engineered the situation he would have gone in guns blazing, in high dudgeon, whereas the Peters in the interview was using weak humour to deflect his discomfort. Sorry, Incognito, not a runner. Especially after the reaction to Turei’s gambit.

      • popexplosion 1.1.3
        31 August 2017 at 10:58 am

        The disclosure emphasises how old Peters is; that forms are complicated to him or he was setup, you choose which is worse, weak or senile; but I think worst of all it says something about lolly grabs. He took a pension he did not need, now sure he has every right, but it says he wants cash over the political ?casha? of not taking it.
        I just think pensioners would want their vote to goto someone who was better.

      • tracey 1.1.4
        31 August 2017 at 12:14 pm

        Who has history for this behaviour? It is just a spalusible, using your low threshold, that having seen the polls, someone in National is ensuring that party will need a new leader soon…
        https://thestandard.org.nz/all-i-can-do-is-tell-the-truth/

  2. Sanctuary 2
    31 August 2017 at 6:50 am

    I wish the media would stop repeating like a Buddhist mantra Labour is “weak on the economy” and “vulnerable on taxes” and tonight Jacinda has to compete with “experience and competence”.

    These are basically National party talking points. Hosking will of course hammer on about them, in the fairest possible way if you ignore the completely tilted playing field he wants to start the game on.

    In a sense, our medias obsession with the talking points of the cosy National, ACT, Banks and big business club and their collusion with the establishment is a perfect illustration of why they failed to detect (until it happened) the mood for change and why the don’t understand that for most Kiwis this election isn’t about tax cuts and “economic competence” (whatever that means) but about hosuing, health and growing inequality. This election isn’t about National party talking points, it is about other things completely.

    Personally, if I were Jacinda every time Hosking says the “economy is going gangbusters” I’d ask if it was working for the homeless, people who can’t afford a first home, and those on low wages.

    • tc 2.1
      31 August 2017 at 7:03 am

      Just quote the debt nationals been racking up to defeat the competent BS and the slashing in health etc they’ve done alongside that.

      • popexplosion 2.1.1
        31 August 2017 at 11:05 am

        Personally paying down debt before you hand cash back to the family… ..the whole notion that our income reflects our exact value in a rational market is flaky cuckoo musings of fraudster bankers… …govt must target the general malaise growing for 30 years of inaction. National had 9 years… ..Nothing. even their ad has no houses in.

      • Sans Cle 2.1.2
        31 August 2017 at 1:57 pm

        +1 and let her remind Bill Engli$h that he disinvested in Housing NZ, through taking dividends, at a time when unprecedented numbers are homeless and cannot access accommodation.
        How long did it take him to reach that surplus, and at what price for Government debt?

    • tracey 2.2
      31 August 2017 at 12:17 pm

      “We live in a society which holds fast the belief that being a man makes you more rational, and being white makes you more intelligent, and being old entitles you to a public platform, and being rich proves you’re right about everything. We have a frankly religious attachment to Enlightenment thinking, raising “evidence” on a pedestal which cannot be challenged. It’s a virtue to not have ideology. “We’ll just do what works,” they nod seriously, from seats across the whole political spectrum.

      Yet that is not how the world is.”

      https://bootstheory.wordpress.com/2017/08/24/the-evidence-gareth-morgan-doesnt-want-to-see/

    • NewsFlash 2.3
      31 August 2017 at 2:48 pm

      Ardern has been seriously under estimated by, both National and the critics, she is way more than just a “pretty face”, she has provided hope and aspiration to those who wish for a “Brighter Future” for NZ, pardon the pun.

      I expect that Ardern will put the likes of Hosking in his place, and we all know where that is.

  3. Muttonbird 3
    31 August 2017 at 7:03 am

    Build it and they will come. Guess what, people actually like trains, especially electric ones!

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/08/aucklanders-taking-20-million-train-trips-a-year.html

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1
      31 August 2017 at 1:58 pm

      They like bicycles as well:

      Total Movements
       Overall, a total of 15,382 cyclist movements4 were recorded across the 85 sites monitored in 2015. This figure represents a 19 per cent increase when compared with 2014 (12,877 movements).
       Across the 60 sites monitored since the manual cycle monitor began in 2007, in 2015 cyclist movements have increased by 38 per cent.
       Of the sites monitored in both 2014 and 2015, the average number of cycle movements in the region across the morning and evening periods has increased (181 per site in 2015, compared with 151 per site in 2014 – an increase of 20 per cent).

  4. eco Maori/kiwi 4
    31 August 2017 at 7:19 am

    Its good to see to see that the rest of the world is getting some coverage on there NATURAL DISASTERS .
    And the Muppet’s are leavening my elderly and vulnerable clients alone thanks to
    THESTANDARD.
    We need to help all the 3 world nations mitigate againts climate change the WEST OWE THIS TO THOSE NATION we no what has gone on for the last 200 years and what is still going on now see what Noam Chomsky has to say on this subject .
    Lets talk about tax these businesses so they can claim asset deprecate and all the other expenses small businesses claim 20% of rent power rates or 20% of mortgage
    repayments.
    And Duncan is pissing in the wind moaning about business having to pay capital gains
    tax now capital gains is a profit that no one is working hard for as one sleeps there assets gain capital when one is on holiday there assets gain capital .
    So why are the Neo-liberal on news hub bashing this tax we no why because they don’t want
    to shear there LOLLIES . They should shear there capital gains profit to help make New Zealand a = and fairer Society.
    I do not mind paying more tax so labour can get all these vulnerable people off our streets and into warm healthy houses .
    I see these people are gaining every week in my travels .We need more tax to pay to fix all the damage that NATIONAL have done to OUR SOCIETY.
    One knows that it all ways cost more to fix something that is broken it is far cheaper to keep something MAINTAINED ESPECIALLY A SOCIETY .
    Now come on Us kiwis dont mind paying more tax. Our Scandinavian cousins pay way more tax than we do and they have a much fairer Society

    • eco Maori/kiwi 4.1
      31 August 2017 at 7:38 am

      Man Duncan is kissing his own ASS he must be questing his IMAGE he will be able to change that when National slip out of power

      • CoroDale 4.1.1
        31 August 2017 at 8:53 am

        Yo, Emo. How old to your have to be to join the Masons?
        Serious thoughts. Milking cows is great, but if I could develop my image, perhaps I could someday be a farm adviser.

  5. One Anonymous Bloke 5
    31 August 2017 at 7:24 am

    Some encouraging snippets in one of Stuff’s surveys…

    …Such opinions are especially prevalent among NZ First supporters.

    Thirty-six percent of them ticked Trump, while 29 per cent said the system of government is “completely broken”. And two thirds of NZ First supporters said that the government’s policies towards minorities are “too politically correct”, compared with 39 per cent of the survey sample as a whole.

    (My bold)

    So next time you hear some minority group member whinging about “political correctness” (which they probably are incapable of defining), ask them if they think minority groups get too much attention. 😈

    • CoroDale 5.1
      31 August 2017 at 9:14 am

      Must agree, I don’t think it comes from govt policy. But on the other side of the coin, I can think of a few minority groups that get too much attention. There is limit to the benefits of political correctness. I can certainly understand Mohammed Ali explaining some race politics.

      Eg. There is a point when the positive politics of feminism tips and becomes the negative politics of neo-feminism. Happens when one starts to generalise a negative aspect of masculinity across men as a group. Like the sun and the moon, male and female will always be. Or religion, there’s a labyrinth.

      NZF isn’t my first choose, but they do have plenty of value for the next govt. Hope Labour/Green invite them to join from the start, to make a strong majority. Interesting how differently they can be interpreted, by different folk and different perspectives.

      Mohammed Ali/Μοχάμεντ Ali, “I love my racial identity, I want my children to look like me.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcWzwwnHAMI

      • tracey 5.1.1
        31 August 2017 at 12:41 pm

        “There is a point when the positive politics of feminism tips and becomes the negative politics of neo-feminism. Happens when one starts to generalise a negative aspect of masculinity across men as a group. ” CoroDale 2017

        “Femininity is depicted as weakness, the sapping of strength, yet masculinity is so fragile that apparently even the slightest brush with the feminine destroys it.”

        ― Gwen Sharp

        “what saying “not all men” actually does –

        refuses to acknowledge that gender violence happens too often

        takes the focus off the men who are violent and/or misogynistic

        refuses to acknowledge that even “good guys” can enable the problem

        makes the conversation about men and semantics instead of the epidemic of levels of violence against women

        what saying “not all men” does not do –

        reveal a fascinating new insight we did not already know”

        laci green

        • Karen 5.1.1.1
          31 August 2017 at 12:58 pm

          +1 Carolyn
          Particularly this:
          “refuses to acknowledge that even “good guys” can enable the problem”

          I wish all those men who spend time berating women calling out sexism claiming “not all men” instead called out the men who engage in sexist and misogynist behaviour. In addition, they should maybe start listening to women for a change.

        • eco Maori/kiwi 5.1.1.2
          31 August 2017 at 6:51 pm

          +1000 tracey We live in 2017 Women are our = not taken for granted or to be oppress by some dick head males . Most Women are more cautious they don’t do stupid shit like some men do they are more compassionate cares .
          In a good family you need a good mother and father that treat each other as equals in my view to raze the children successfully.

          And this is why I say that all our successful sports women should be payed and promoted by the media as role models for our girls to aspire to and have there confident s razed so we get more women in the top roles in our society so laws are made to benefit females as well as males laws made to benefit all people
          not just the 1 %
          I won’t respond to that dick head

        • weka 5.1.1.3
          31 August 2017 at 7:15 pm

          +3 Some men take it personally and think that critiquing men as a class with privilege means all men are something. It misses the point and as pointed out, misdirects from the issues being raised.

  6. Cinny 6
    31 August 2017 at 7:30 am

    The debate last night was rather robust. Not sure what Seymour was even doing there. Winston is pissed off as about the leak, and made that very clear. Joyce did the usual spin, Grant called him out on his crap, loved that.

    James was a stand out again, Grant was fantastic, especially how he handled questions from the blue electorate. Good work.

    Gower was pretty good as moderator, but he did let Seymour take plenty of wise cracks at winston about his age, which in my opinion was not warranted.

    Tonight 7pm on tvnz the Red Princess will go up against Boring Bill, my eldest is thrilled about the air time, she will be able to watch it. She doesn’t know about Hosking and his bias and attitude, I’ll keep quiet about it as I’m interested in her reaction and assessment.

    And another poll will be released later today.

    If you missed last nights debate here is a link to watch it
    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/08/decision-17-livestream-the-asb-great-finance-debate.html

    It’s all on like donkey kong. This is the most exciting election I’ve ever seen.

    • Ed 6.1
      31 August 2017 at 7:41 am

      0.4% of the electorate vote and invited.

    • AsleepWhileWalking 6.2
      31 August 2017 at 9:26 am

      Red Princess…I like it!

    • popexplosion 6.3
      31 August 2017 at 11:07 am

      Winston won’t deliver, he’s got one term to build a rail line to Northport. Ain’t happening.

    • DSpare 6.4
      31 August 2017 at 12:05 pm

      Cinny
      Thanks for linking these reminders about debate times, it is easy for people who don’t watch television to forget about them. I found the camera movement hard to take and only saw part of it, so can’t give a real overview – Bradbury has his assessment over on TDB:

      https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/08/31/the-finance-leaders-political-debate-james-shaw-clear-winner/

      Maybe it was just the portions I watched, but I thought Gower had little control over the barracking (particulary from Joyce) while others were talking which is more a feature of parliamentary than televised debates. Others seem to think he did a good job though, and I assume they watchedthe whole thing.

      One thing I’d observe is that the speeches can’t really be compared directly to one another, as it wasn’t really about winning the room over. Each participant was effectively addressing a different portion of the electorate and their success has to be assessed at how well they did in the task they set out to do. I thought Peters did better than Bradbury suggests, and Seymour worse. Joyce he seems spot on about; “smooth as silk and as confident as a porn star at a pissing contest… if you had only been listening for him you would believe all is well in NZ and that we don’t realise how lucky we are”. I’d been thinking of how he reminded me of one of the late great John Clarke’s parodies myself while watching it.

    • tracey 6.5
      31 August 2017 at 12:43 pm

      Where was the Maori Party?

    • weka 6.6
      31 August 2017 at 1:11 pm

      Have to say it again, the more I see Shaw the more impressed I am. I reckon he could eat the lot of them for lunch.

  7. Ed 7
    31 August 2017 at 8:17 am

    Hosking already showing his ghastly sexist approach by asking Jacinta what she’ll be wearing tonight.
    Jacinda asked whether he’ll ask English the same question.

    Hosking is a Neanderthal unfit to moderate a 21st century political debate.

    Fire the TVNZ board.
    Boycott their advertisers.

  8. Ed 8
    31 August 2017 at 8:41 am

    Cover up.

    Second Climate Change Report Withheld By Government
    Paula Bennett failing to do her job again.
    Not delivering for New Zealanders.

    https://teggtalk.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/second-climate-change-report-withheld-by-government/amp/

    • Cinny 8.1
      31 August 2017 at 9:04 am

      Not releasing a report until post election, reeks of a coverup. Our species depends on the climate

      Thanks for the link

    • tracey 8.2
      31 August 2017 at 1:23 pm

      Ardern will be on this pronto. Afterall it is the Nuclear issue of our times.

    • eco Maori/kiwi 8.3
      31 August 2017 at 7:07 pm

      Not to worry ED Bennett will be warming the opposition seats very soon

  9. Pete 9
    31 August 2017 at 9:22 am

    When they decide to give Wayne Eagleson a knighthood, will the information be leaked before the embargoed date?

    • alwyn 10.1
      31 August 2017 at 9:43 am

      Well he was the one who compared the Green Party shambles to the Jacobins wasn’t he?
      http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/08/have-greens-entered-their-jacobin-phase.html
      That seems to have turned out to be a rather accurate prediction so perhaps so will the one you are putting forward.
      Somehow I doubt it though. Chris is getting a bit hyperbolic as he sees his dream of the red dawn fading away into a blue sky.

    • ianmac 10.2
      31 August 2017 at 10:39 am

      Pat: Last night in Queenstown Winston accused Joyce of promoting the Super story to those National Party people on the Saturday night and/or at the NP launch.
      Hence on Daily Blog:
      “@KD Try Joyce , he was shopping the story all over the place on Saturday , plenty of witnesses .”

      • Pat 10.2.1
        31 August 2017 at 11:40 am

        promoting which angle of the super story?…the Trotter version or the Hooten (original) version?…or something else?

      • Cinny 10.2.2
        31 August 2017 at 1:19 pm

        Interesting read, I saw that indicator too Ian, but then I scrolled back up and re read Trotters post and this bit here stands out for me.

        “The most damning of these involved the deliberate leaking of confidential information about a senior politician’s financial affairs as part of a broader “strategy of distraction”. Equally shocking was the discovery that an alarming number of public servants had aided and abetted the Government’s strategy.”

        Just wanted to stress that the Barclay scandal is dirty as. But maybe that isn’t it either..

    • Robert Guyton 10.3
      31 August 2017 at 12:03 pm

      Certainly prophetic, but accurately predictive? weshallsee.

  11. millsy 11
    31 August 2017 at 9:53 am

    Jacinda needs to win these debates. No ifs, buts or maybes. Starting with the first tonight,

    • Dirk Meatwhistle 11.1
      31 August 2017 at 10:09 am

      If Jacinda wins the debate (as agreed by most), this debate, Labour will take the election

    • Ad 11.2
      31 August 2017 at 10:27 am

      All the pressure is on the 2-time anti-Midas, taking an enormous dump on Key’s entire 9 years of electoral capital, and setting it on fire.

      How to make a small political party: give a big political party to Bill English and wait a week.

      • Dirk Meatwhistle 11.2.1
        31 August 2017 at 11:22 am

        Well styles makes fights as they say so can Jacinda prove shes more that just a collection of one liners, can Bill get whats in his brain out of his mouth in a way that doesn’t bore people to death

        Lets get it on!

      • SpaceMonkey 11.2.2
        31 August 2017 at 1:05 pm

        John Key dumped on his own political capital. Eight years of arguably unprecedented popularity… and did sweet fuck all with it.

        But yeah… all the pressure is on English.

    • ianmac 11.3
      31 August 2017 at 12:34 pm

      Not too sure about winning/losing debates millsy. Demonstrate confidence and willingness to find out along with clarity and conciseness.
      Just hope Jacinda does well. No doubt there will be some tricky economic/monetary questions well suited to Bill but of course he tends to go on and on and on and on (like Joyce) so may loose his audience.

    • Cinny 11.4
      31 August 2017 at 1:22 pm

      Jacinda will win the debates 🙂 Unless James is there, he is kicking arse on the debating front have been super impressed with him.

  12. adam 12
    31 August 2017 at 9:57 am

    Mean while, it would appear that the USA state roles on. Who cares how many priests get murdered, who cares how many women, how many innocence, as long as the all mighty dollar is in play.

  13. Glenn 13
    31 August 2017 at 10:17 am

    The Canary has a interesting and horrifying article about Australia’s concentration camps, the damage they are doing and how some Australians are making a stand.

    400 men, women and children were flown to Australia from the offshore refugee camps on Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea). Some due to serious illness; others who were victims of rape or serious assault. All needed medical attention.

    Daniel Webb of the Human Rights Law Centre explained:

    We’re talking about women who were sexually assaulted on Nauru. Men who were violently attacked on Manus. Children who were so traumatised by offshore detention that they needed urgent psychiatric care in Australia.

    But now, the Australian government has announced that all 400 are to be returned to Nauru or Manus. And the first stage of this process will see 100 men and women issued with a final departure bridging visa. In the meantime, they are to be deprived of all resources – housing, financial, and other support.

    https://www.thecanary.co/2017/08/29/army-citizens-takes-stand-modern-day-concentration-camps-tweets/

    • tracey 13.1
      31 August 2017 at 12:49 pm

      Good. God!!

    • Macro 13.2
      31 August 2017 at 1:13 pm

      Peter Dutton should have New Zealand Citizenship Instantaneously and irrevocably conferred upon him.
      He is an evil man – but this would remove him from office and hopefully a more humane human being would take over as Minister for Aussie Immigration.

      • Draco T Bastard 13.2.1
        31 August 2017 at 2:35 pm

        This sort of stuff has been happening in Australia for more than a century. So much so that it seems to be a part of their country’s culture. So, changing from one Australian to another doesn’t really seem to be an answer.

        • Macro 13.2.1.1
          31 August 2017 at 3:23 pm

          You’re absolutely right Draco, but IMO Dutton is the most sadistic bastard in a long line. He has taken the abuse of others to extreme.

      • NewsFlash 13.2.2
        31 August 2017 at 3:17 pm

        Making him a NZ citizen is waayyyyyyyy to good for him, interestingly, he will replace Turnbull if the polls continue negatively for him, so far 18 consecutive negative polls for Turnbull, and sliding, the man is NO leader.

  14. Chris 14
    31 August 2017 at 10:19 am

    This is sickening:

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96344311/government-pledges-two-funding-boosts-to-combat-homelessness

    Boosting private charity to provide core services. This poor law mentality is disgusting. Even the language is foul. Providing “beds”. They think “beds” is the answer. They are greedy evil fucks who deserve the fucking worst.

    • Muttonbird 14.1
      31 August 2017 at 10:22 am

      I wondered how they can proudly promote rapid and last minute expansion of emergency social services five minutes before and election as an example of a government ‘delivering for New Zealanders’.

    • Ed 14.2
      31 August 2017 at 10:46 am

      Charities can’t be expected to solve homeless crisis
      http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/charities-cant-be-expected-to-solve-homeless-crisis-higgins-31598077.html

      ‘Homelessness will not be solved by building private homes for sale or for rent. Good quality, supported accommodation needs to be delivered as part of new developments. It needs to be a fundamental part of the planning process and not an afterthought when all the main planning decisions have been made.

      When considering development councils must consider the role of temporary and supported housing. We need decent temporary accommodation for single homeless people.’

      http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/07/homelessness-will-not-be-solved-building-private-homes-we-need-radical-solution

    • mac1 14.3
      31 August 2017 at 11:17 am

      Labour’s Phil Twyford said both initiatives were good ideas but their announcement this close to the election was “cynical politicking”.

      Isn’t it extraordinary how compassionate this National government gets close to an election?

      Yet extraordinarily close-fisted with public information as with the climate change report.

      Yet extraordinarily loose with their security about the superannuation details of private citizens.

      Extraordinary. Don’t get it at all………..

      • Chris 14.3.1
        31 August 2017 at 11:49 am

        If Twyford said they were both good ideas then heaven fucking help us. The belief that private charity is a legitimate means for providing for the poor is a most despicable concept imaginable. I remember National in the 1990s together with the BRT brought a right-wing English academic out to NZ to talk about reintroducing poor law based welfare in this country. If Labour doesn’t understand how fundamentally wrong this is then not only is it completely ignorant of its own history as a party but it’s clear that they haven’t got a fucking clue. This is so fucking angering.

        • mac1 14.3.1.1
          31 August 2017 at 12:23 pm

          From the article you yourself gave us, Chris
          “”It’s been our policy for ages to support Housing First as a very successful strategy to deal with chronic homelessness and rough sleepers. But it’s not a good solution to the explosion of people who cannot find affordable rental housing.”

          He supported the Auckland City Mission funding too but noted that it wouldn’t deliver any new beds until at least 2020, when they were needed immediately.

          Twyford.

          Who should provide this support is less important than that it should be provided-and now. State, local authorities, City Mission, whoever.

          Chris, would you curse Mother Theresa for being a private charity.

          The real evil is that not enough is being provided, surely?

          As Twyford says.

          • Chris 14.3.1.1.1
            31 August 2017 at 1:25 pm

            Charity has been around for centuries. There’s always going to be people who need it. Jesus giving the cup of water etc. It’s when it’s regarded as the main way for certain groups to have basic needs met. That’s not participation. Why do you think England and New Zealand replaced the Poor Laws with rights-based access to social security? And no, I’m not necessarily cursing the charities, but it’s certainly naive to think that setting up places with access to “beds” is going to be a temporary thing while things are being done to “fix the housing crisis”. This government is quite happy to see charity-based responses to social problems become the norm and firmly entrenched into mainstream institutions.

            • eco Maori/kiwi 14.3.1.1.1.1
              31 August 2017 at 8:10 pm

              Chris + 100 we no that most of the Private Charity funds are used up by there management I.E CEO wages $100.000 ect the government is the organisation
              that has to provide for the needs for the vulnerable and not some Charity that is only going to spend half the funds on the vulnerable and the rest on paper pushers .
              It is well documented that world aid ect that only 40% of the funds got to the people that need it WTF Gemmon

    • Psych nurse 14.4
      31 August 2017 at 11:43 am

      They probably think Workhouses are enlightenment. Plenty of work the homeless could do, generating electricity on a tredmill, picking tow from old ropes, collecting wool from barbed wire fences, the possibilities for turning a profit from hopelessness are endless.

    • Robert Guyton 14.5
      31 August 2017 at 11:57 am

      The comments under that article!
      Oh dear, National!

      “I actually don’t believe a word National says right now”
      (One of the mildest).

    • AsleepWhileWalking 14.6
      31 August 2017 at 1:00 pm

      From the article

      “Housing First is a wrap-around service that focuses on individual need rather than a one-size-fits all approach. Independent research shows 80 per cent of people who receive the service retain their housing.”

      Is nobody but me bothered that this means 1 in 5 DON’T retain their housing? Seems shocking.

      • Barfly 14.6.1
        31 August 2017 at 3:11 pm

        A proportion of those living on the streets are very badly damaged and dysfunctional.
        If the number of those living on the street can be reduced by 80% I’ll happily take that as a bloody good start.

    • tracey 14.7
      31 August 2017 at 3:21 pm

      How odd, what with there being no crisis and all

  15. The decrypter 15
    31 August 2017 at 11:31 am

    Panic has set in well and truly.

    • Ed 16.1
      31 August 2017 at 12:06 pm

      He is now an irrelevance

      • tracey 16.1.1
        31 August 2017 at 3:23 pm

        “We are a socially liberal and economically rational political party focused on securing a better deal for future generations. Give your list vote to UnitedFuture in 2017 and help us become an even more influential support partner to the next government.”

        http://unitedfuture.org.nz/

    • tracey 16.2
      31 August 2017 at 3:26 pm

      Did he do a plug for the new leader of UnitedFuture?

      “UnitedFuture has appointed Damian Light as the new Party Leader, Deputy Leader Judy Turner announced today.

      Mr Light will takes over from Hon. Peter Dunne, who will remain as Parliamentary Leader.”

      Has National pulled the plug on their candidate in Mr Light’s seat?

  17. s y d 17
    31 August 2017 at 1:50 pm

    I’m assuming he is still being paid up until such point as he is no longer an MP.
    What a self serving shit head. Worm chaser. In his own words…

    “strutting earnest ways and the egregious ever-so-keen-to-please and not offend tones….. the absolute worst of politicians focused on nothing more than their own promotion”

  18. Draco T Bastard 18
    31 August 2017 at 2:44 pm

    Innovation Is Essential. But Are Your Best and Brightest Killing It?

    Yet these days business has grown complex, super-fast, and hyper-connected. And in this world, top performers may actually be doing more to hurt innovation than helping it.

    Unfortunately, many leaders, still employing an industrial-era mindset, aren’t able to recognize this. They can’t see that innovation no longer comes from innovative individuals. As the best companies are now showing us, it comes from innovative cultures.

    Thus, innovation–once the exclusive domain of elite problem-solvers–is now a collaborative process involving many.

    For many organizations the impact of this shift has been monumental. For instance, David Weinberger has pointed out that “as knowledge becomes networked, the smartest person in the room…is the room itself.”

    That can be applied to a nation as well. If we want an innovative nation then we need to build a culture of innovation. And because the the information is diverse and spread across many fields we need to build that up as a culture of cooperation and sharing.

    In other words, we need to be doing the exact opposite of what our governments have been doing as they built up privatisation and increased restrictions on ‘intellectual property’.

    • NewsFlash 18.1
      31 August 2017 at 3:27 pm

      +1

      Innovation is one of the keys to a successful nation, there was a time when NZ was considered an innovative nation and then there was National

    • eco Maori/kiwi 18.2
      31 August 2017 at 8:14 pm

      +100 Draco

    • Exkiwiforces 18.3
      31 August 2017 at 8:22 pm

      The Culture of innovation died when DSIR was killed off by the last National government under old Ruthie and her Muppet colleagues of the 90’s.

      • Stuart Munro 18.3.1
        31 August 2017 at 8:24 pm

        Yup – our aquaculture came out of there – not MAF, much less the fatuous MPI.

      • Draco T Bastard 18.3.2
        31 August 2017 at 9:55 pm

        That was certainly a part of it. The other part was the emphasis on ‘competition’ while making a few people rich and then expecting them to do it.

        • Exkiwiforces 18.3.2.1
          31 August 2017 at 11:04 pm

          I’m still wondering how competition (Unless it racing of some form or Medical Research) helps research when most research conducted is a long term not some quick fix solution as its all trail and error. As we say at work “you’re got crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run.”

          When one looks on DSIR it was surly amazing organisation that only talk and work with the private sector, but also other Government Depts as well such as the former MoW, the former Forestry Dept, MoD including the other Services, All the universities and the Technical collages etc.

          Then have you the Female and Blokes working in their shed out of the house or in the case of my great grandfather at the family run co-op coal mine and the list of notable’s is very long and famous.

  19. Ed 19
    31 August 2017 at 4:19 pm

    Another right wing grumpy old man (Neville Gibson?) blathering on ignorantly about the issues. Climate change and homelessness only an issue because the media mention them, according to him and governments cannot do little about them.
    Honestly.
    Why are fools like him on the show?

  20. Macro 20
    31 August 2017 at 4:27 pm

    Things that come to bite you on the bum…..
    Two weeks ago Trump Scraped the Obama-Era Rule To Protect Infrastructure From Climate-Change Flooding. This required federal, state, and local agencies to take steps to protect infrastructure from flooding caused by climate change.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-executive-order-flooding_us_599323d4e4b04b193360926b
    Meanwhile…
    House Republicans want to cut almost $1 billion from FEMA’s disaster relief fund, which only has $2.3 billion remaining in its budget. Trump, meanwhile, is promising billions to help Texas rebuild from Harvey-caused flooding. The $876 million cut pays for roughly half the cost of Trump’s down payment on the border wall
    And…
    Trump tweeted that he intentionally understaffed FEMA in order to shrink the federal government. His tweet came in response to a critical Fox and Friends segment where Laura Ingraham said the damage and flooding in Texas from Hurricane Harvey is proof that the Trump administration needs to be fully staffed. Of the 591 key positions that require Senate confirmation, just 117 have been filled.
    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/29/trump-shrink-government-laura-ingraham-242128

    But no worries…
    It’s all due to a Hoax perpetuated by China.

  21. Ed 21
    31 August 2017 at 4:30 pm

    Why are the crucial questions about Hurricane Harvey not being asked?
    George Monbiot

    “It is not only Donald Trump’s government that censors the discussion of climate change; it is the entire body of polite opinion. This is why, though the links are clear and obvious, most reports on Hurricane Harvey have made no mention of the human contribution to it.

    In 2016 the US elected a president who believes that human-driven global warming is a hoax. It was the hottest year on record, in which the US was hammered by a series of climate-related disasters. Yet the total combined coverage for the entire year on the evening and Sunday news programmes on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News amounted to 50 minutes. Our greatest predicament, the issue that will define our lives, has been blotted from the public’s mind…..’

    • Ed 21.1
      31 August 2017 at 4:46 pm

      The Panel talking about the floods in Mumbai and India now.
      And sure enough, no mention of climate change.

      Good on you, Jim.
      You really are a spineless broadcaster.

  22. weka 22
    31 August 2017 at 4:43 pm

    Keep saying this is the irony election but this one takes the cake. It involves Sean Plunket, TOP, a MSM journo and some sweary abuse,

    https://mobile.twitter.com/duncangreive/status/903096415433351168

  23. Ed 23
    31 August 2017 at 5:28 pm

    The whole article is worth a thread.
    I have included excerpts.

    ‘Bill English fiddles whilst the world burns: our Prime Climate Change Denier

    There will be one moment of mismanagement by Bill English this election that will be studied and debated in the future. That moment is neither Todd Barclay’s alleged workplace bullying nor the leaks of Winston Peters’ superannuation over-payment. That moment was captured in his Radio New Zealand interview on 28 August 2017; when he was challenged on his past dismissal of climate change as policy for the ‘elite,’ he doubled down, asserting that:

    “well, as a day to day concern, I don’t think people are getting out of bed in the morning saying, look, the most important thing that happens today is that the climate changes…”

    This moment will be studied as a recorded example of Bill English misunderstanding climate change; he sees it as a political issue, rather than a survival issue.

    I wonder what Bill does think about when he wakes up? What radio station plays to start his day? I didn’t pick him for the Rock. I’d be surprised if its not Radio New Zealand, the AM Show and/or Breakfast before he goes for his walk run. If it’s any of those three, I wonder how he cannot think of climate change.

    On the very day that Bill English was interviewed, even our mainstream media was covering the unfolding humanitarian and environmental disaster in Texas and America’s fourth largest city, Houston from Hurricane Harvey. As of today, that state has had 15 trillion litres of rain; you can fill all of the NFL and college stadiums in Texas to the brim one hundred times over. The numbers of dead are climbing, and the displaced from Houston are now displacing the displaced from Corpus Christi who are looking for refuge centres further afield………

    On the very day that Bill English was interviewed, one third of the entire country of Bangladesh is underwater. At least 1,200 have died from flooding in Nepal, Bangladesh and India. Seventeen million people have been affected by the flooding in India, with thousands of villages cut off from food and clean water. Ninety thousand homes have been washed away in Nepal……

    ..Bill English may not wake up thinking about climate change. But that is not a virtue nor indicative of a sober, realistic mindset. It is the statement of a deluded, self-serving man who is no leader for New Zealand. All he has confirmed is that he and his colleagues are a danger to the future of our country. Never trust the ones who say “peace, peace,” when all about us is evidence of war and danger. Change is upon us.’

    https://firstwetakemanhattan.org/2017/08/30/bill-english-fiddles-whilst-the-world-burns-our-prime-climate-change-denier/

    • eco Maori/kiwi 23.1
      31 August 2017 at 8:29 pm

      ED I was going to say he would be thinking about how much he was going to get from the next clip but that is a insult to our farmers . So I say hes thinking I AM PRIME MINISTER and any other topic just goes way over his head.LOL
      And after tonight’s polls he probably still thinks National can hold on to that slippery pole of power