Open mike 31/12/2014

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 31st, 2014 - 192 comments
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openmikeThe Authors of the Standard are now in holiday mode. Posting will be less regular and dependant on individual author enthusiasm. Open mike will continue every day and prepare yourself for some year in review posts and some recycling of old stuff. And as R0b has said be nice to each other.

Open mike is your post.

The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

192 comments on “Open mike 31/12/2014 ”

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  1. millsy 1
    31 December 2014 at 8:13 am

    Congratulations Dame Tariana. Now you can take your place alongside Sir Apriana Ngata and Sir Maui Pomare.

    Hope the further decline of living standards among your people due to you supporting National’s policies and supporting mass evictions from state housing to benefit private landlords is worth it.

    • vto 1.1
      31 December 2014 at 8:58 am

      Yep. Tariana certainly deserves recognition but it is significantly dented by her and the MP’s support for the horrible and debilitating effect on the poor of the policies of this Nat government which she has supported.

      Kind of actually nullifies the total, which is a shame.

    • Psycho Milt 1.2
      31 December 2014 at 9:01 am

      A bigot gets honoured for support of the National Party – nothing out of the ordinary, then.

    • Sanctuary 1.3
      31 December 2014 at 11:45 am

      If this means I never get to her say in her sad, condescending voice of victimhood “my people…” again then I say good job.

  2. TheContrarian 2
    31 December 2014 at 8:16 am

    Would be very nice to have a Phil Ure free day today. Yesterday’s epic Open Mike “discussion” was…long and pointless

    • phillip ure 2.1
      31 December 2014 at 8:26 am

      no..it was long..and ‘pointed’..

    • Skinny 2.2
      31 December 2014 at 9:27 am

      A tad rude there cobbah, many of us enjoy Phil’s view. Your sounding like freedom of speech police.

      • TheContrarian 2.2.1
        31 December 2014 at 9:31 am

        Meh, people say the same about Pete George.

        • RedLogix 2.2.1.1
          31 December 2014 at 9:53 am

          [RL: As long as it’s confined to Open Mike moderation is more relaxed. While the usual rules still apply around pointless abuse, sexism, racism and legal defamation etc – the the content is pretty much over to what the participants want to bang on about.]

        • CATMAN 2.2.1.2
          31 December 2014 at 5:12 pm

          “Meh, people say the same about Pete George.”

          Citation needed. i don’t recall anyone say they “enjoy” Pete’s “view.”

          • greywarshark 2.2.1.2.1
            31 December 2014 at 5:23 pm

            @ CATMAN
            Cheers for 2015. Have you ever tried some kahlua or Baileys cream in with your milk?

          • TheContrarian 2.2.1.2.2
            31 December 2014 at 7:23 pm

            I think you misunderstand. No one said they enjoy Pete George rather they often wish that we could not “enjoy” his postings.

        • emergency mike 2.2.1.3
          31 December 2014 at 7:32 pm

          “Meh, people say the same about Pete George.”

          I’ve also never seen this happen.

          Contrarian, if you find pu so annoying why is it you spend so much time engaging with him?

          Even if his argumentative style is well, frustrating might be a kind word, and even if a change from the otherwise worthy topics of cannabis law reform and the relative merits of veganism might go down well, he is capable of generating interesting discussion sometimes. I’ll give them a look over the utterly vapid and tedious PG ‘discussions’ anyday.

          I’m not really sure that either of them truly intend to derail threads and take up so much space with the arguments they create, even though they seem oblivious to the fact that that is what in fact ensues. I don’t think it’s their intention to cause disruption in the true sense of tr0lling. In my observation these negative aspects of the styles of both pu and PG occur because the same certain people seem to be unable to resist having a go at them. Even though those same people should know by now how that goes.

          I think the truth is that a number of those people enjoy it. I.e. they know perfectly well that pu and PG won’t back down and that they always have to have the last word. So they keep throwing stones at the wasp’s nest, then get outraged at the mess of angry wasps flying around. Which is a bit close to tr0lling in itself.

          People persisting in trying to have logical debates with people they reapeatedly complain about having an illogical debating style seems a bit weird to me. Each to their own. I’ve been known to shout at walls so I guess I can’t talk.

          • Murray Rawshark 2.2.1.3.1
            31 December 2014 at 7:49 pm

            Yes. It takes two to tango, or in Phil’s case, 3 or 4. I also get the strong impression that a couple here just like poking a stick at him. What I can’t figure out is if he thinks he’s actually advancing his causes by the aggressive way in which he sometimes responds.

      • tricle up 2.2.2
        31 December 2014 at 11:43 am

        +1 enjoy phil s views even if he is plant consumer and veggie muncher..

      • Murray Rawshark 2.2.3
        31 December 2014 at 5:36 pm

        Phil’s posts remind me why I don’t hang around dope smokers. They are useful.

    • tc 2.3
      31 December 2014 at 11:49 am

      Xmas should harden you up as to ignoring certain folks, otherwise the family gatherings get very annoying rapidly.

      Just skip over them and rejoice in the open tolerant approach TS uses which permit such variety unlike other blogs.

  3. millsy 3
    31 December 2014 at 8:17 am

    And before National’s supporters get carried away….after the special votes were counted thier share of the vote was about the same as 2011.

  5. philj 5
    31 December 2014 at 8:46 am

    Its official. The Panel on RNZ is 50/50 split on left/right balance. According to the judgment of the shows producer! A large number of panelists were unidentifiable.I.e did not know. I emailed Jim for a list of each, so I could be better informed of the bias ….. still waiting . OIA material? What a poor joke The Panel is. They need more informed commentators, preferably independent, neutral academics, prepared to speak out. Are there any left in NZ that are allowed on RNZ?

    • Skinny 5.1
      31 December 2014 at 9:39 am

      I find Jim Mora screws the debate to suit his own right thinking ideology. Many of his panelists are living life very cosy and annoy me when they purport to having a wide knowedge of issues that those on struggle street face day in day out. It’s time he is moved on the difference between the nine till noon show and his afternoon show is chalk & cheese.

    • Tracey 5.2
      31 December 2014 at 10:58 am

      I emailed the CE of RNZ earlier this year asking a number of questions. Two which were ignored were

      1. Are Hooton and Williams paid for their appearances;
      2. Are panelists paid for their appearances

      I did not ask for disclosure of the amount of their pay if they are indeed remunerated.

      Funny he answered the other questions.

      • Skinny 5.2.1
        31 December 2014 at 11:06 am

        Hooton will be clipping as many tickets as he can, he would more than likely be getting paid from RNZ. He will also be getting backhanders from the lobby groups he represents, and some would say
        the shady rightwing supporters of this Govenment.

        • Tracey 5.2.1.1
          31 December 2014 at 11:24 am

          odd the CE wouldnt say. it forces me to waste time on an OIA

          • tc 5.2.1.1.1
            31 December 2014 at 11:56 am

            Not odd at all RNZ has become a nat party tool like mediawonks and radio network they stiched that medium up years ago.

            If it was truly public and open that would all be disclosed and nobody should be paid to gain a national soapbox IMO as they are all backed one way or another without more taxpayer dosh being required.

            • George Hendry 5.2.1.1.1.1
              31 December 2014 at 12:14 pm

              Greetings Tracey and tc – 🙂

              Yes they tried to stitch it up, but stitching starts to work loose if people keep tugging at it…

              Why is the PM choosing to appear more on fringe radio that Radio NZ? Could it be that he has been getting given an ever so slightly harder time from interviewers and listeners lately on RNZ? This would seem to be how to take back the public domain, little by little.

              • Tracey …
                31 December 2014 at 12:46 pm

                greetings to you too.

                according to hooton, key takes his lying spiel to fm so he can lie about who he really is to “people who are not interested in politics”. rnz befire christmas

                • George Hendry …
                  31 December 2014 at 1:26 pm

                  Thanks Tracey 🙂

                  He should be warned, it could backfire on him. ‘At last, a nice blokey accessible politician, they’re not as bad as I thought. I know, I’ll follow him on Twit, watch him dishing it to the others In The House, he’s got Sunny Bill on his team, hey and the ref as well !, let’s have the live feed out at the barbie…’

            • Tracey 5.2.1.1.1.2
              31 December 2014 at 12:43 pm

              sorry tc, was being sarcastic

              • tc …
                31 December 2014 at 11:07 pm

                No apols required, just spelling it out for the new entrants in the interests of edumacation, happy new year Tracey and all TS consumers.

    • George Hendry 6.1
      31 December 2014 at 11:56 am

      @ Nadis –

      Brilliant, if Freudian.

      ‘Protests broke out in Moscow on Tuesday night, as hundreds gathered in front of the Kremlin in opposition to the sentencing of a critic of President Vladimir Putin.

      Police moved to disburse those protesters, apparently arresting some…’

      Did they warn: ” You will pay for this !” (and here’s how) 🙂

  7. Clemgeopin 7
    31 December 2014 at 10:21 am

    The Maori party reminds me of the despicable Judas Iscariot who sold his mana and his soul for a few bobs of silver. Shame on them.

    • karol 7.1
      31 December 2014 at 10:26 am

      I switched off the RNZ news this morning – too much about the “honours” people. Such honours may have been worth something once, and some people who achieve them are very worthy. However, in general, they seem to have become very devalued as they are rewards handed down largely from the self-serving elites.

      • Tracey 7.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 11:00 am

        Agreed, the awards, like society are upside down. The most selfless, tireless, unpaid heroes are at the bottom of the honours pile…

        Paul Collins, most noted for being at the helm when Brielry’s plunged to obscurity. My brother in law just one of many who got a letter saying even at .25c per share they are now rendered useless…my recollection is he got $4m to piss off…

        • Southern Man 7.1.1.1
          31 December 2014 at 6:35 pm

          I see that Auckland magician Alan Watson has been awarded an QSO. Criticism of Paul Collins may be unjustified – perhaps he got his knighthood for making thousands of investor’s money disappear?

      • Halfcrown 7.1.2
        31 December 2014 at 2:47 pm

        How true.
        I was privileged a few years ago to attend an honour being given at Government House. Not privilege to go to Government House, the privilege was this person requested that I attend.
        I was convinced that the”lower” honours were there to keep the peasants happy, and in their place. No way were the people who received the lower awards were going to get knighthoods etc. No, that is exclusively for our betters and elders.
        After hearing what some of the people had done for the betterment of NZ and their fellow man, to receive an honour, I feel they should all have got a knighthood at least, especially after hearing who had received a knighthood that year.
        It came home to me what a bloody farce and decadent this honour system is, and sooner this medieval practice is ditched the better..

        • Tracey 7.1.2.1
          1 January 2015 at 12:46 pm

          this ^^^ 100% reflects my experience attending my partners award of mnzm.

          the higher up the award you go the less they did for others until they were incredibly wealthy. people lower down were volunteering as part of their ordinary wage earning lives

    • Skinny 7.2
      31 December 2014 at 10:56 am

      The sellout Maori party do know a cliché or 2.
      “better to be in the tent than out”.
      “you can’t achieve much if your not seated at the table”.
      “at the end of the day being part of the Government it’s about gaining concessions”.

      Look for National to moved to abolish Maori Electorate Seats, especially if you consider Labour will run a strong candidate against Favell next election. The Tory Maori Party will then become destined to be a sad part of our political history.

    • Murray Rawshark 7.3
      31 December 2014 at 5:46 pm

      There is a long and ignoble tradition of kupapa activity, which may temporarily reward those who indulge in it, but always at the expense of other Maori. This award from the worst PM we’ve ever had is Turia’s badge of shame.

  8. James 8
    31 December 2014 at 10:53 am

    “The Maori party reminds me of the despicable Judas Iscariot who sold his mana and his soul for a few bobs of silver. Shame on them.”

    Sounds a lot more like mana to me.

  9. Tautoko Mangō Mata 9
    31 December 2014 at 10:53 am

    Congratulations to Māori TV for showing the excellent doco last night on the resistance put up by corporate and farmer lobby groups in NZ against proposals to make meaningful climate change policy.
    Meanwhile in the US of A, there are reports of a Delaware-size gas plume over North West New Mexico confirmed by NASA.
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/delaware-sized-gas-plume-over-west-illustrates-the-cost-of-leaking-methane/2014/12/29/d34c3e6e-8d1f-11e4-a085-34e9b9f09a58_story.html
    “As early as next month, the Obama administration will announce new measures to shrink New Mexico’s methane cloud while cracking down nationally on a phenomenon that officials say erodes tax revenue and contributes to climate change. The details are not publicly known, but already a fight is shaping up between the White House and industry supporters in Congress over how intrusive the restrictions will be.
    Republican leaders who will take control of the Senate next month have vowed to block measures that they say could throttle domestic energy production at a time when plummeting oil prices are cutting deeply into company profits. Industry officials say they have a strong financial incentive to curb leaks, and companies are moving rapidly to upgrade their equipment.”
    This is the same sort of thinking as illustrated by the NZ corporate and Farming lobbyists in last night’s doco. It’s all about short term money issues and bugger future generations.

    • tc 9.1
      31 December 2014 at 11:13 am

      And national who refused to back it after indicating they would, got elected then excused their farming and power generating profit takers from it saddling the rest of the burden across everyone else.

      Wonder if maxwell will be having words about such pieces going to air.

    • Tracey 9.2
      31 December 2014 at 11:25 am

      i guess the restructure hasnt quite kicked in as the mats planned.

      • tc 9.2.1
        31 December 2014 at 12:01 pm

        There is resistance and the hope he reverts to the bully boy approach that got him turfed from TVNZ which will cut both ways at MTV.

        Time will tell

    • vto 9.3
      31 December 2014 at 12:53 pm

      That was certainly a very good doco and exposed the farming sector and business sector for the greed and self-interest which drives their thinking and decisions. It is yet further evidence to support the contention that people and organisations with greed and self-interest for their drivers should never be let anywhere near the important decisions that impact on society – they are not set up to consider such decisions. They are set up solely to make profit – that is all.

  10. Bearded Git 10
    31 December 2014 at 11:23 am

    I kind of like this.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11380393

    Though the Whale probably uses a double-headed coin….

    • Pete George 10.1
      31 December 2014 at 11:58 am

      Whale isn’t known to be a hacker. If the cartoon had Year of the Blogger you’d have a good point.

      Slater is reasonably well exposed and limited in what he can do. Political hacking is a disturbing precedent.

      • weka 10.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 12:08 pm

        Irrespective of whether Slater fits a techinical definition of ‘hacker’, he doxes people, which puts him in the ‘wreck innocent lives’ box (and yeah, he uses a double sided coin). He also is eyebrow deep in Dirty Pollitics, so ditto.

        You, PG, are a dirty politics apologist. Which puts you in Slater’s camp by choice and intent.

        • Pete George 10.1.1.1
          31 December 2014 at 12:20 pm

          But he does it though blogging, not hacking. There’s a major difference – in particular, hacking is illegal.

          I’m not in Slater’s camp, I’m excluded from it. I’ve agreed with some things he does and says but I’ve strongly opposed him as well. How often have you confronted him directly? Or do you just play dirty from safety?

          • weka 10.1.1.1.1
            31 December 2014 at 12:31 pm

            “But he does it though blogging, not hacking. There’s a major difference – in particular, hacking is illegal.”

            No, he uses backend access and techniques to track people and expose them in a ‘wreck lives’ kind of way, which is actually pretty similar to what hackers do only they have more skills. You can call that part of being a blogger, but that just proves you are in Slater’s camp (and untrustworthy).

            “I’m not in Slater’s camp, I’m excluded from it. I’ve agreed with some things he does and says but I’ve strongly opposed him as well.”

            You are in Slater’s camp because of how you behave and what you believe. He may not let you play with the big boys, but the fact that you have to sit on the margins of their game doesn’t mean you haven’t allied with it. It’s nothing to do with Slater and everything to do with your choices.

            “How often have you confronted him directly? Or do you just play dirty from safety?”

            Accusing me of playing dirty? Oh dear, you really are digging yourself a big hole here. You still don’t have a grasp of what DP is do you. Or maybe it’s just that it suits your agenda to muddy the waters and make DP mean something that everyone does, instead of the very specific actions that Slater, Key and co engage in. Which would be another tick on the list of why you’re in their camp.

            Of course I don’t engage with Slater, because it’s not safe to do so. That you think there is something wrong with me for that just says a heap about you.

            • Pete George 10.1.1.1.1.1
              31 December 2014 at 12:39 pm

              You seem to know little about what I believe, going by how much you make up (which is dishonest or ignorant).

              It’s not “muddying the waters’ saying that dirty politics is much wider than Slater et al.

              I think trying to ring fence Dirty Politics in a targeted attack rather than addressing dirty politics generally is little more than playing the game and avoids addressing the whole problem. Deliberately? It’s counter productive to dealing with it.

              • Bearded Git …
                31 December 2014 at 12:51 pm

                PG-one of Cunliffe’s and the MSM’s failures, was not to get across to voters that what Key, Ede, Whale et al were up too was well beyond the pale and well beyond anything Labour has been involved in.

                The “they all do it argument” is simply Crosby-Textor classic spin which you seem to be buying into.

                • Psycho Milt …
                  31 December 2014 at 1:20 pm

                  Not so much “buying into it” as “a major source of it.” But then, he does seem to be under the impression that “dirty politics” means being rude to people, so maybe he does actually believe what he’s saying.

                  • weka …
                    31 December 2014 at 1:29 pm

                    I’d be willing to go with ‘being rude to people’ if it weren’t for the fact that this has been explained to him endlessly and he’s not that thick. And for the fact that’s it’s such an important distinction. So unless I see evidence to the contrary, I’m going with PG as a DP apologist at the least, and probably a major contributor to the problem.

              • Tracey …
                31 December 2014 at 12:53 pm

                could you post your proof of the type of specific behaviours denoted in dirty politics undertaken by those not named in dirty politics… including proof of a specific and targetted and funded two track strategy. tia

                • Sacha …
                  31 December 2014 at 1:16 pm

                  I’d welcome evidence of even one story handed by an undisclosed political operative to a left-wing blog, then picked up by mainstream media. Cosgrove, Mallard and co bad-mouthing their own party doesn’t count.

                  • Murray Rawshark …
                    31 December 2014 at 5:53 pm

                    Cosgrove, Mallard, and co. are the reserve platoon of the NAct dirty politics team. They count, but not on the side of the left.

                • Pete George …
                  31 December 2014 at 1:16 pm

                  Hager doesn’t own ‘dirty politics’ and doesn’t get to dictate what applies to it and what doesn’t just because that’s what he named his book. Neither does his fan base.

                  It’s often been claimed Helen Clark played dirty, even against her own. The Peter Doone example is often quoted.

                  And from Politics is a sleazy business – regardless of who is in power

                  It’s worth noting this shadowy attack-politics stuff is not new and not the sole domain of National.

                  The then Labour Party president Mike Williams took a well-publicised trip to Melbourne to dig dirt on Key ahead of the 2008 election. It backfired: Labour found nothing and subsequently dropped in the polls.

                  Helen Clark was probably the biggest gossip of them all when she led the country. She leaked and spread rumours about people and even those in her own team – I wonder how her private communications and those of her senior ministers would look splashed across a book. I bet it wouldn’t be pretty.

                  Her Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels was sacked for allegations ‘‘swirling’’ over allegedly having sex with someone under the age of consent decades previously – it was Clark and her team making them swirl.

                  Samuels, later exonerated by a police investigation, never got a fair hearing – the ninth floor of the Beehive killed him off. I was with him at his house the night he was sacked – he was devastated and blamed Clark for the dirty tricks.

                  The murky Left infiltrated a National Party cocktail function in 2008, secretly recorded MPs and leaked them (to me).

                  I was also involved in a series of stories about former Cabinet minister John Tamihere over financial irregularities at his previous job at the Waipareira Trust which saw him sacked as a minister. When I got home, my house had been broken into. Nothing was taken but all the windows and doors had been left open. TV3 hired a security firm to change the locks, watch my kids at school and investigate the break-in. The firm concluded that someone wanted to frighten me – and we left it there.

                  I also remember doing business with Labour’s chief of staff Matt McCarten in the 1990s, when he ran the Alliance. Matt was fun and charming – but let’s not kid ourselves, if anyone knew how to run a black ops sting it was him.

                  Senior Labour ministers and press secretaries rang to point me toward The Standard, a Left-wing blog, to read its vitriol on certain days. Who had written those posts? I’m told many were written under fake names by Labour staffers paid by the taxpayer.

                  My point is politics is dirty, no matter who is in power. Hager seems genuinely surprised at this. Frankly I’m surprised at his naivety.

                  Can you provide of proof of “a specific and targeted and funded two track strategy” that was significantly different to politic PR as usual?

                  • Sacha …
                    31 December 2014 at 1:27 pm

                    Pete, there’s a whole book about it. If you don’t understand the difference, best stop talking about it eh.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:41 pm

                      Why? It’s not my problem if some try to ring fence a term to suit a narrow agenda. I’d prefer to address wider issues of dirty politics. As I’ve already said, Hager doesn’t own the term. He’s not entirely clean himself.

                    • weka …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:48 pm

                      🙄

                      Dude, Hager invented the term in the NZ context.

                      It doesn’t matter whether you agree with Hager or not, he did get to define what DP means. You on the other hand want to redefine it to suit your own agenda, which makes you a hypocrite as well as a DP apologist and trole.

                      “I’d prefer to address wider issues of dirty politics”

                      I don’t believe you. If you did actually want to do that, you would differentiate between DP and the wider issues of how politics is conducted in NZ. Instead you just want to mix it all up and pretend that everyone behaves badly just because they’re rude.

                    • Sacha …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:54 pm

                      The right deiberately set about applying the term ‘dirty politics’ to anything they could after the election, to neutralise its meaning (another Crosby/Textor ploy?). ‘Miss, she pulled my hair’. Opinion polls suggest they got away with it.

                      Pete, you’re being a tool of miscreants if you undermine a specific term just like they have done. Find another one if you want to talk more broadly. Better still, create a new one.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:57 pm

                      many in the media also seek to redefine it or deliberately misunderstand it. they had many many years to write about it and define it but it is mainly a phrase only in the consciousness of kiwis cos of hagers book.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:09 pm

                      “The right deiberately set about applying the term ‘dirty politics’ to anything they could after the election, to neutralise its meaning”

                      What do you base this claim on? Fairly hard to prove I’d think.

                      I’ve seen more of a concerted effort to try and ring fence the meaning of “Dirty Politics”.

                      The big problem with ‘Dirty Politics’ now is that it proved to be ineffective at best in the election, and probably helped motivate National voters so would have been counter-productive.

                      There may be some specific issues still to come out of it but I think there’s more to be lost than gained by continuing beating that drum.

                      Better to promote better in future rather than flog a negative historic horse.

                    • Sacha …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:11 pm

                      Move along, nothing to see here.
                      Another original line.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:18 pm

                      PG to suggest focussing on the future suggests you believe the behaviour in the book has stopped, yet you assert everyone is doing it. these seem to be incompatible assertions.

                      john key gave slater his new phone number when he had a chance to genuinely distance himself. is key responsible for everything slater does? of course not but he has tacitly said slater is fine by me. by giving out his new number, texting with him about investigations and publicly apologising to him, something he only does for “serious reason”.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:47 pm

                      “PG to suggest focussing on the future suggests you believe the behaviour in the book has stopped, yet you assert everyone is doing it. these seem to be incompatible assertions.”

                      I’ve not said “everyone is doing it”. I’ve said more than Key have been doing it in the past, but I’ve also said a number of parties and MPs haven’t been doing dirty and are against it.

                      “john key gave slater his new phone number”

                      Key gave conflicting versions. One of the latest seems to be:

                      In the House this afternoon, Mr Key said his new number was given to media numbers “programmed in my phone which typically contact me via text”, which include many in the press gallery as well as other media.

                      http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/opposition-is-slater-keys-friend-or-foe-2014120215

                      That was supposedly to explain how Slater got his new number.

                      I think Key should have done more to be seen to be cutting back on communications with Slater, but it’s his call and his risk.

                      Anything that could be linked between Key and Slater is likely to be scrutinised and question. I think that’s a good thing. Some good has come out of Hager’s book.

                      But I think Little in particular has to be careful about close to “Dirty Politics” he gets. There’s a risk of backfire, especially if Slater ends up substantiating some of his claims.

                  • Tracey …
                    31 December 2014 at 1:33 pm

                    “… Mike Williams took a well-publicised trip to Melbourne to dig dirt on Key ahead of the 2008 election..”

                    can you post a link to where jason edes name was publicised in relation to his paid role to dig dirt and to slaters use of prostitutes to dig dirt on local and national politicians before hagers book?

                    do you consider the following is proof?

                    “… also remember doing business with Labour’s chief of staff Matt McCarten in the 1990s, when he ran the Alliance. Matt was fun and charming – but let’s not kid ourselves, if anyone knew how to run a black ops sting it was him.

                    Senior Labour ministers and press secretaries rang to point me toward The Standard, a Left-wing blog, to read its vitriol on certain days. Who had written those posts? I’m told many were written under fake names by Labour staffers paid by the taxpayer.”

                    Thanks for your link and extensive quote from duncan garner. i am still a little unclear whether you completely get “two track”. if i recall correctly, and i may not, you didnt read all of dirty politics by hager. or i may be mixing you up with gosman who read a little bit at his sisters.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:39 pm

                      I can’t guarantee having read every word but I’ve read most of it at least. And I’ve read close to all of the Whale Dumps.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:47 pm

                      thanks for answering my last question, there were at least two before that

                    • George Hendry …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:52 pm

                      Hi again Tracey 🙂

                      I believe that PG absolutely gets two track politics : –

                      # It would be understandable to cite and quote an article referring to Dirty Politics, even though from a source involved in said dirty politics, if PG naively saw it as proving his point.

                      # It does illustrate his point – but that’s not all it does. He has carefully edited it, while carefully implying that he has not done such a thing, leaving readers who don’t click the link to assume he has quoted it in full.

                      # It would have been easier to copy and paste the whole thing, but he has copied and pasted, and cut all criticism of National, leaving in all criticism of Labour. Which makes his version of the article far more biased than an author already known for his bias in the same direction.

                      If he were truly concerned about dirty politics, whoever did or does it, he would not have taken such care to quote out of context.

                      Nor does he subject Garner’s assertions to any such scrutiny, as I saw further down the thread he is well able to do, as he applied to my comment about the ten-hour police raid.

                      Perhaps as a lawyer 🙂 you already knew all this. He is an able debater, all the more so by successfully pretending to be somewhat naive, who seems to have decided not to use his considerable ability in the service of truth.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:59 pm

                      well spotted george. that is precisely what phil ure did yesterday with the mouse research.

                      wishing you and yours a happy and healthy 2015

                  • karol …
                    31 December 2014 at 2:45 pm

                    This audio is of Duncan Garner saying a lot of the same stuff as in his print op ed piece. But he also says, that while politics has always been “grubby”, the stuff in Hager’s book shows Slater, Ede et al were doing something much more venal and nasty, much more organised and vicious than anything before it – he says Slater et al had taken grubby politics a step further. e.g. with the dirt digging on people’s personal lives, the attempted blackmail, etc.

                    And Garner ends by saying the important question is what did John Key know about the stuff going on from his iffice and when?

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:50 pm

                      I agree with Garner on at least the more vicious bit, and also on what Key actually knew about specifics of what was going on in his office. My guess is he knew some but not the full extent, hence the easing out of Eade as quietly as possible.

                    • Sacha …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:54 pm

                      Hiding Ede from the media and giving him a job with a party associate sheds no light at all on how much the PM knew or did not know.

                      If the PM genuinely did not know, we would have seen Eagleson shown the door (on the basis that as Ede’s boss he sure as hell knew).

                      But fudge on, macduff, if it warms your cockles.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:55 pm

                      PG

                      you cited garner as proof of the others doing two track politics but when karol quotes him you only partially agree with garner

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:57 pm

                      Sacha

                      and why deliberately delay announcing edes resignation til after the election… nothing to fear nothing to hide.

                  • Murray Rawshark …
                    31 December 2014 at 5:59 pm

                    Insinuation and bullshit from Duncan Garner? Get a bloody life. That rubbish is too weak to even respond to.

                    • karol …
                      31 December 2014 at 6:54 pm

                      Garner does make some reasonably good points. But he fails to get to the crux of what Hager’s “Dirty Politics” is about – the 2 track strategy, the politics of deception and diversion, etc., hiding from the general public their true agenda.

                      And Garner is hardly a choir boy when it comes to grubby attack politics – who could forget his obsessive persecution of Chris Carter – using his journalist platform for his own “get Carter” campaign of hate.

            • Tracey 10.1.1.1.1.2
              31 December 2014 at 12:50 pm

              you probably have engaged with slater on here but dont know it… he says things he posts are his, then turns out it is a paid copy and paste, so he probably says he doesn’t post here, but does.

              • weka …
                31 December 2014 at 1:33 pm

                If that’s a reply to me, the difference is that Slater has no backend access to anyone’s data by talking to them here.

      • weka 10.1.2
        31 December 2014 at 12:10 pm

        “Political hacking is a disturbing precedent.”

        That doesn’t even make sense. ‘Political’ hacking isn’t new. And political hacking is a disturbing precendent of what?

        • George Hendry 10.1.2.1
          31 December 2014 at 1:07 pm

          Greetings, Weka 🙂

          I think the political-hacking-disturbing-precedent bit was aimed at Rawshark’s illegal hacking of material some of which was used in Dirty Politics. It can be argued (speciously) that anything deplorable (eg setting up a whitewash inquiry, blogging to ruin lives etc) is essentially ok as long as it isn’t illegal (yet).

          When I want to act in an ethically and morally bankrupt way, best not to break the law while I’m at at it or I risk leaving myself without a defence.

          Scene in front of darkened computer screen:

          Boss:

          ‘Wretch !!! You have failed me. I exclude you from my gang. But I am merciful – you can get back in if you go on TS and provoke some of them to make comments that show they are As Vicious As I Can Be. Goeth now and doeth my bidding.’

          And you’re absolutely right, poisonous snakes best not approached except confidently and competently 🙂

      • tc 10.1.3
        31 December 2014 at 12:19 pm

        Surprise surprise PG is a DP diffuser.

        Chapter 2 etc, he didn’t discover the flaw, bhatnagar did, he did exploit it and claim to have discovered it.

        Slater remains at large and unchecked whereas hagers been raided and still no action on the police complaint despite evidence in the book that slater and the national party were up to their necks in it.

        Slater is more powerful than ever with many Nats in his pocket and a useless MSM so spin away Petey.

        • weka 10.1.3.1
          31 December 2014 at 12:33 pm

          “Surprise surprise PG is a DP diffuser”

          +1

        • Pete George 10.1.3.2
          31 December 2014 at 12:33 pm

          I’m against dirty politics no matter who does it. Are you? Or just if it’s Slater or National?

          I think it was fair enough for Slater to expose the unprotected data but I opposed him doing anything with the data.

          Slater has been significantly checked, which I think is a good thing. I don’t agree that he is more powerful the ever.

          I think he currently has legal action against him.

          • weka 10.1.3.2.1
            31 December 2014 at 12:34 pm

            “I’m against dirty politics no matter who does it.”

            Liar. You don’t even understand what Dirty Politics is. Or you dissemble, because it suits your muddle of the road agenda to try and play both sides.

            • Pete George 10.1.3.2.1.1
              31 December 2014 at 12:42 pm

              There you go again. Playing dirty politics.

              And your lack of understanding of “muddle of the road agenda to try and play both sides” is ironic.

              • Psycho Milt …
                31 December 2014 at 1:14 pm

                There you go again. Playing dirty politics.

                Well, weka’s right – you obviously have no idea what “dirty politics” actually is. Either that or you’re pretending to have no idea, which would be even worse.

                For the record, someone who calls you a liar isn’t playing “dirty politics,” they’re telling you what they think. Now, in the unlikely event that weka were to get someone to go round the local brothels asking whether you’re a customer, or get a cabinet minister to reveal personal info about you, or discuss a way of blackmailing you to get you to stop blogging, or use any other of the tools of Slater’s trade as outlined in Hager’s book, they would indeed be playing “dirty politics.” Calling you a liar – not so much. It’s really not a difficult concept to grasp.

                • Pete George …
                  31 December 2014 at 1:25 pm

                  I’m well aware of some of the worst of Slater. And I’ve been strongly critical of some of Key’s association with Slater. But that doesn’t make Key dirty and everyone else preceding him clean.

                  Attempting to discredit people with unsubstantiated accusations you’re politically opposed to is a common part of dirty politics. Milder than a a lot of what Slater has done, but similar objectives and still dirty.

                  Or maybe you could define what “dirty politics” actually is PM, if you think you’re an authority on it.

                  • RedLogix …
                    31 December 2014 at 1:40 pm

                    We all know politics is a tough game. It’s often not especially fair, nor very principled – but there are recognised limits. (PM above lists some of the more obvious ones.)

                    In this case Key’s office was clearly neck deep in a culture where they were misusing the resources and powers of the state to discredit and damage their political opponents.

                    • weka …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:44 pm

                      Yes.

                      Pretty sure we’re now in the part of the PG tips trole line where he simply can’t cope with clear explanations and will revert to dissembling, not responding directly, addressing irrelevant things, or just repeating himself in various inane ways because he has no argument further than “I disagree with you”.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:50 pm

                      and even when his office was clearly implicated, key told the public his office was cleared. an unequivocal lie.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 1:55 pm

                      And I’ve seen many people, journalists included, who say it was largely politics as usual, with some Slater excesses added.

                      I oppose Key’s office doing it, and it’s worse from the PM’s office due to the power and resource imbalance, but it’s far from confined to the PM’s office.

                      For example it could also be claimed that Winston Peters is often misusing the resources and powers of the state to discredit and damage his political opponents. It’s an important part of opposition to hold Government to account, but using resources to dig for dirt and make unsubstantiated accusations under Parliamentary privilege seems dirty to me.

                      Greens also use state resources to dig up things designed to embarrass their political opponents but stick to clean holding to account, so it can be done in a reasonable way.

                  • weka …
                    31 December 2014 at 1:41 pm

                    “Or maybe you could define what “dirty politics” actually is PM, if you think you’re an authority on it.”

                    He just did you idiot.

                    “Attempting to discredit people with unsubstantiated accusations you’re politically opposed to is a common part of dirty politics.”

                    Two things. One, I’m not actually opposed to you politically in the party political sense. I think you are an arch trole who is also an apologist for DP.

                    Two, my accusations are substantiated and upfront. It’s your own actions that are a discredit to you. That you disagree with me doesn’t mean the accusations are unsubstantiated.

                  • Tracey …
                    31 December 2014 at 1:45 pm

                    do you understand that Key has held the most powerful position in nz for 6 years and if he is dirty, and it seems to me there are only 2 options

                    1. he has no knowledge of what is going on in his own office, cabinet and caucus; or
                    2..he is complicit

                    given he is the most powerful person why should we say “oh well… others did it, so it doesnt matter and change is so hard it is easier to just wait for slow change instigated by others cos it is too gosh darned hard”.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:01 pm

                      I think Key has had partial knowledge and partial complicity but I wouldn’t blame him for everything Slater is done. And I suspect Eade may have overstepped and has subsequently been moved out.

                      I didn’t think “oh well… others did it, so it doesnt matter”.

                      I think the best way of addressing it, for the current and for future Governments, is to insist on better standards in Parliament, and get as much support from MPs and parties to demand better standards. I know some parties and MPs want substantial improvements in political behaviour. I think that’s what is best to be targeted now, promoting what’s best next year rather than scrapping over things done years ago.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:06 pm

                      actually the best way is to stop voting for people and parties of all ideologies who lack integrity. we have a cabinet manual which key laughs at. why would anyone follow your proposed standards when they ignore the cabinet manual?

                      you referred backwards in your example to somehow excuse the current holder of power or as a reason not to be too hard on him.

                      if he is partially complicit and partially incompetent why arent you calling for him to resign?

                      remind me who you party voted? i party voted green?

                  • RedLogix …
                    31 December 2014 at 2:09 pm

                    The difference here is that the Opposition parties do NOT have access to the covert, secret or surveillance powers of the state. This places the Government of the day in a special position of trust, that they will use those powers for solely for the benefit of the wider national interest – and NOT to serve their own narrow political interests.

                    It is vital to they understand this difference and demonstrate even in the smallest matters that they can be trusted with these powers. And in this case the Prime Ministers office betrayed it.

                    And I’ve seen many people, journalists included, who say it was largely politics as usual

                    If you really believe that then what is your problem with Hagar’s book?

                • weka …
                  31 December 2014 at 1:34 pm


                  “There you go again. Playing dirty politics.”

                  Well, weka’s right – you obviously have no idea what “dirty politics” actually is. Either that or you’re pretending to have no idea, which would be even worse.

                  For the record, someone who calls you a liar isn’t playing “dirty politics,” they’re telling you what they think. Now, in the unlikely event that weka were to get someone to go round the local brothels asking whether you’re a customer, or get a cabinet minister to reveal personal info about you, or discuss a way of blackmailing you to get you to stop blogging, or use any other of the tools of Slater’s trade as outlined in Hager’s book, they would indeed be playing “dirty politics.” Calling you a liar – not so much. It’s really not a difficult concept to grasp.

                  Perfect. That’s a linkable summary of exactly what the problem is with PG. Thanks.

                  • Sacha …
                    31 December 2014 at 2:07 pm

                    Pete reliably struggles to make sense of what others say, yet that impediment does not deter him from constantly engaging in conversations. Plucky battler.

                    Leaping to the defense of authority is a secondary sin, better described as PR than as activism.

                    I for one wish him a more silent, peaceful new year.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:24 pm

                      I don’t think you have much idea what I understand.

                      I see things differently to some here for sure, but it can as easily be claimed that some here don’t understand everything about dirty politics. Or they deliberately try to ignore or shut down inconvenient aspects.

                    • Sacha …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:45 pm

                      the world loves a tryer.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      31 December 2014 at 2:52 pm

                      Sorry, Sacha, I expect the tiresome lying sycophant will continue to disappoint until banned again.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:07 pm

                      Representative of OAB being one of consistently dirtiest players here.

                    • lprent []
                      31 December 2014 at 5:26 pm

                      Nope. Based on your habits of lying by omission, highly selective quoting and holier than thou bullshit on topics you barely know, I would say that you are a far dirtier blogger than OAB. These are all techniques associated with misinformation dissemination rather than robuet debate.

                      OAB expresses opinion, links to facts, and I can’t recall them ever putting a quote out of context. That you don’t like what he says doesn’t make it “dirty”. It just means that you don’t like it and rather than arguing (and having to work for an argu!entire), you prefer smearing. To me that is just lazy.

                      Blogging isn’t about people being nice. It is about having a good look through things and expecting others to disagree with you.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:11 pm

                      🙄

                      What PM said.

                    • Tracey …
                      31 December 2014 at 3:51 pm

                      PG

                      which political party do you have evidence of that OAB operates on behalf of and to what end? I dont know his real name so have no idea of the answer myself. But to be indulging in dirty politics as you suggest, you must h an insight into the election outcome he was trying to influence in 2014 or for 2017.

                      being rude isnt “dirty politics”, no matter what definition you apply.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 4:37 pm

                      Tracey if you excuse what OAB, weka et al do as “being rude” then you have no understanding of what dirty blogging or dirty politics is.

                    • lprent []
                      31 December 2014 at 5:13 pm

                      I am sure after reading your comments today that you have no frigging idea about either.

                    • Pete George …
                      31 December 2014 at 6:41 pm

                      “OAB expresses opinion, links to facts, and I can’t recall them ever putting a quote out of context. ”

                      Very funny. A model contributor?

                      What do you mean “them”?

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      31 December 2014 at 7:01 pm

                      The purpose of this thread is to provide Petty George with free material for his banal grey desert. I believe it’s pronounced “Yawns”.

                    • weka …
                      31 December 2014 at 8:03 pm

                      I thought the purpose of this thread was to give Pete enough rope 😉

                  • karol …
                    31 December 2014 at 6:49 pm

                    And in Hager’s “Dirty Politics”, it’s all about the Nats’ 2 track strategy and the politics of diversion and deception.

                    It’s about having Key as the nice smiley front man, with a focus on his personality, photo ops, etc., with just the bare bones of any policy presented to the public once over lightly.

                    Meanwhile, he’s kept at a distance of the underhand attack politics of his staffers, and the likes of Slater and sometimes DPF. Their attacks are most often on relatively trivial matters, and provide a diversion from the Nat government’s true agenda – at least as far as the MSM and general public sees.

              • tc …
                31 December 2014 at 7:54 pm

                No he’s calling you a liar. Pretty straight up and you dont refute the claim by adressig it just muddle it up with some wordplay.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1.3.2.1.2
              31 December 2014 at 5:49 pm

              See George Hendry’s comment above. It’s quite clear that Petty George knows exactly what dirty politics is.

              • Sacha …
                31 December 2014 at 7:54 pm

                Pete will continue wasting oxygen for as long as he is allowed. Site moderators banning him permanently is our only respite from the beige fog.

                • tc …
                  31 December 2014 at 8:08 pm

                  Beige is a valid colour, live and learn. Petey is part of the rich tapestry.

                  • The Al1en …
                    31 December 2014 at 8:15 pm

                    I agree with that. Live and learn, or stagnate and fade away.

                    • Sacha …
                      31 December 2014 at 8:43 pm

                      beige quicksand.
                      enjoy the struggle

                    • The Al1en …
                      31 December 2014 at 8:44 pm

                      No struggle if you use your smarts instead of relying on frustration or anger.

                    • Sacha …
                      31 December 2014 at 8:49 pm

                      some creatures sense pollution before others.
                      guess which die?

                    • The Al1en …
                      31 December 2014 at 8:56 pm

                      Not the one’s who stand around winging about the injustice of it all I suspect.

                    • weka …
                      31 December 2014 at 8:56 pm

                      Struggle or not, quicksand is not somewhere to conduct political discourse or insurgency.

                    • The Al1en …
                      31 December 2014 at 9:00 pm

                      Too deep, and I don’t mean the quicksand. 😆

                    • weka …
                      31 December 2014 at 9:02 pm

                      I was just following yous three round in the metafours 😛

                    • The Al1en …
                      31 December 2014 at 9:05 pm

                      Call a chimp to throw you a vine and make like Tarzan, I say.

                    • rhinocrates …
                      1 January 2015 at 12:28 pm

                      A useful guide:

                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

                      A. Significant impairments in personality functioning manifest by:
                      1. Impairments in self functioning (a or b): a. Identity: Excessive reference to others for self-definition and self-esteem regulation; exaggerated self-appraisal may be inflated or deflated, or vacillate between extremes; emotional regulation mirrors fluctuations in self-esteem.b. Self-direction: Goal-setting is based on gaining approval from others; personal standards are unreasonably high in order to see oneself as exceptional, or too low based on a sense of entitlement; often unaware of own motivations.AND2. Impairments in interpersonal functioning (a or b): a. Empathy: Impaired ability to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others; excessively attuned to reactions of others, but only if perceived as relevant to self; over- or underestimate of own effect on others.b. Intimacy: Relationships largely superficial and exist to serve self-esteem regulation; mutuality constrained by little genuine interest in others’ experiences and predominance of a need for personal gain
                      B. Pathological personality traits in the following domain:
                      1.Antagonism, characterized by:
                      a. Grandiosity: Feelings of entitlement, either overt or covert; self-centeredness; firmly holding to the belief that one is better than others; condescending toward others.b. Attention seeking: Excessive attempts to attract and be the focus of the attention of others; admiration seeking.
                      C. The impairments in personality functioning and the individual’s personality trait expression are relatively stable across time and consistent across situations.

                      D. The impairments in personality functioning and the individual’s personality trait expression are not better understood as normative for the individual’s developmental stage or socio-cultural environment.

                      E. The impairments in personality functioning and the individual’s personality trait expression are not solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., severe head trauma).

                      Reasoning is futile, but therapy might me. Is anyone qualified?

      • George Hendry 10.1.4
        31 December 2014 at 12:40 pm

        ‘…

        Slater is reasonably well exposed and limited in what he can do…’

        Yes, his powers are a bit limited –

        # PM will text him

        # PM will lie for him

        # PM will apologise only to him

        # PM will have journalist’s house searched for 10 hours and materials confiscated for him while not needing to because PM already knew who Rawshark was…

        Perhaps he is limited in what he can do because he keeps finding the PM has got there first and done it for him 🙂

        • Pete George 10.1.4.1
          31 December 2014 at 12:52 pm

          “PM will have journalist’s house searched for 10 hours”

          There’s two false claims in that.

          There is no evidence the PM had anything to do with the police action and it would be extraordinary if he did.

          The house wasn’t searched for ten hours. As I understand it between the time police arrived and they left ten hours elapsed, but that wouldn’t have all been time spent searching. Most of the time was likely to be spent communicating between the police, Hager and lawyers.

          • Barfly 10.1.4.1.1
            31 December 2014 at 1:31 pm

            “The house wasn’t searched for ten hours. As I understand it between the time police arrived and they left ten hours elapsed, but that wouldn’t have all been time spent searching. Most of the time was likely to be spent communicating between the police, Hager and lawyers.”

            you can say that with a straight face?,,,rofl

          • Tracey 10.1.4.1.2
            31 December 2014 at 1:38 pm

            as you understand it… 5 cops sat for ten hours communicating with lawyers and hager and their bosses. and how long did they spend at slaters office and home.

          • George Hendry 10.1.4.1.3
            31 December 2014 at 2:22 pm

            Hmm.

            ‘There’s two false claims in that.’

            Grammar fail – there ARE two false claims in that.

            Logic fail #1 – the claims are real, genuine, not false. I know, I made them.

            Logic fail #2 – the claims may be unsoundly based, pure allegation. As pure as the allegation that there ‘is’ no evidence. There might be, not yet found.

            ‘The house wasn’t searched for ten hours.’As I understand it …’

            Allegation, and thanks for admitting it. Not necessarily false, as I believe you believe it to be true, although you DON’T KNOW.

            …’between the time police arrived and they left ten hours elapsed, but that wouldn’t have all been time spent searching.’

            Supposition, as you admit.

            ‘Most of the time was likely to be spent communicating between the police, Hager and lawyers.’

            Again, supposition only, insufficient basis for alleging a false claim prima facie.

            As you clearly have lots of time for this and I need to go and do other stuff, you will probably get the last word in. However :

            # I note you have focused on the most ‘contestable’ of my statements and have given it a good worrying. Well done. And I note gratefully that you have not taken issue with my other statements, particularly the matter of the PM’s public lying, for which there is perhaps now too much evidence for plausible deniability.

            # Elsewhere in this thread you note that ‘dirty is dirty, no matter who does it,’ and I have to agree. As does Mr Hager, or he would not have written ‘Seeds of Distrust’.

            # As no one here has made a statement disagreeing with that proposition, there is conclusive evidence that that is a ‘straw man’ argument, which is either accidental or made in bad faith.

            On the whole, well done. Warning : whatever others may say, I (myself) am Rawsharke, and if you maintain this standard I will consider including you in my camp 🙂

      • Murray Rawshark 10.1.5
        31 December 2014 at 5:49 pm

        Hacking for transparency and freedom from corrupt government is a great weapon in the arsenal of the people. It will indeed disturb corrupt establishment figures, as you have so wisely noted.

    • weka 10.2
      31 December 2014 at 12:11 pm

      I kind of like the cartoon too BG, although it strikes me as a pretty mainstream view of the issue. I suspect that 2015 is going to be more hackerfied and that 2014 was just the intro course.

      • Bearded Git 10.2.1
        31 December 2014 at 1:02 pm

        yeah weka agreed, hence the “kind of”.

        I do hope more comes info out on DP in this parliamentary term even though it didn’t serve the Left well last time. Key needs to be exposed again and again and somehow Ede needs to be pinned down by the MSM-that is their job after all.

  11. Sanctuary 11
    31 December 2014 at 11:50 am

    Righto, Happy New Year to the Standardistas!

    A bit of left over Xmas pudding and some soccer in no-mans-land then back into the trenches to smite the awful Boche* of the right in the New Year!

  12. greywarshark 12
    31 December 2014 at 12:17 pm

    Sad. Due to customer demand the USA encourages people to be armed, while people do not realise this is an example of a failed nation’s disintegrating standards.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/262854/toddler-shoots-mother-in-walmart

    A two year old boy sitting in a shopping cart at a supermarket, very normal, reached into his mother’s handbag and pulled out a gun that was loaded and shot his mother dead.
    While he is young he will grieve for his mother’s absence, and when he is older he will feel terribly guilty, sad and angry at the same time, at being put in such a situation with a loaded gun within his innocent reach.

  13. Penny Bright 13
    31 December 2014 at 12:24 pm

    Let’s see what comes out of the Auckland Council information ‘sausage machine’ on THIS one!

    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    31 December 2014

    Stephen Town
    Auckland Council CEO

    ‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to Auckland Council CEO Stephen Town :
    Please provide the EVIDENCE of ‘efficiency savings’ since the Auckland Council forced amalgamation on 1 November 2010:

    Dear Stephen,

    In the ‘Application for Local Government Reorganisation – PROPOSAL FOR A UNITARY AUTHORITY WITH LOCAL BOARDS FOR THE WELLINGTON REGION’ – it is stated on page 47:

    “The Auckland Council experience and overseas examples strongly suggest that there should be a reasonable expectation of efficiency savings from the creation of a combined Wellington Council.

    Opportunities would likely come from the following areas:

    * Common administrative and support functions (human resources, procurement, ICT, finance, property management, corporate and executive services)

    * Common data management systems and processes

    * Common regulatory functions, activities and processes (building consents, resource consents, liquor licensing, dog permits, and other permits and licensing)

    * Streamlined planning processes for resource management, transport planning as well as plans required under the Local Government Act

    * Single ownership of assets and a comprehensive asset management approach

    * Services that are delivered at both a regional and local level (economic development and tourism marketing)

    * Combined contract for services, for example rubbish collection and road management.

    ….”

    A) Please provide the EVIDENCE which confirms in each of the above-mentioned categories the ACTUAL ‘savings’ (if any) which have been made, by comparing the ACTUAL costs for each category, and ‘sub’category, of the 8 previous Councils in the Auckland region in the last ‘rating year’ prior to the forced Auckland Council amalgamation on 1 November 2010.

    B) Please provide the information which confirms the ‘reorganisational’ costs of the Auckland Council forced amalgamation on 1 November 2010, in each of the above-mentioned categories, including all costs relating and pertaining to the establishment and operational costs of the Auckland Transition Agency (ATA), particularly the costs of appointed ATA members and staff.

    C) Please provide the information which confirms the costs of establishing, and/or extending the roles of the following 7 ‘substantive’ Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs), in each of the above-mentioned categories.

    http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/AboutCouncil/representativesbodies/CCO/Pages/Home.aspx

    Auckland Council Investments Limited
    Auckland Council Property Limited
    Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development Limited
    Auckland Transport
    Auckland Waterfront Development Agency Limited
    Regional Facilities Auckland
    Watercare Services Limited

    Yours sincerely,

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-corruption whistle-blower’

    • George Hendry 13.1
      31 December 2014 at 12:42 pm

      Go Penny !!! 🙂 🙂

    • Ad 13.2
      31 December 2014 at 9:23 pm

      Alternatively you could do it yourself.
      Just add up the activity categories of the previous Council LTPs and compare with the Auckland Council LTP, with a pro rata for population growth.

      They are all in hard copy in public libraries.
      Bring your own calculator.
      All the CE will do is bill you anyway so you may as well do it yourself.

      If you want to generate a “told you it wasn’t worth it” story, don’t bother.
      History has been written by its victors. There’s nothing you can do to change that.

      • RedLogix 13.2.1
        31 December 2014 at 9:41 pm

        There are two very significant differences between the Auckland and Wellington City cases:

        1. Most importantly – the Wellington case has Rodney Hide nowhere near it.

        2. From the outset the supporters of the Wellington Super City recognised the importance of retaining a second, meaningful local level of governance. The whole process has been geared around exploring the various options around achieving that.

        Of course the existing pack of local turkeys – with the notable exception of Porirua – have dug their toes in and done everything possible to NOT cooperate. And in doing so have weakened their positions and disadvantaged themselves.

        Along the way there have been blatant lies and deceptions put about. Some time back I attended a Wairarapa meeting where the local grandees made such fools of themselves in public they actually managed to turn a significant portion of an otherwise sympathetic crowd off.

        Providing the level of asset management, skills, budgets and infrastructure to run decent modern cities and regions is quite simply beyond the scope of your average podunk council – no matter how well meaning and hard working it’s staff are. It’s actually unfair to ask it of them.

        Yes if amalgamations are done clumsily there is the potential to lose the intimacy and accountability of a local council. That’s certainly happened in Auckland and that was mostly Hides bloody fault. But the Wellington proposal was always came from different motivations (largely from GW Regional Council leadership) has been focused around avoiding these mistakes from the outset.

  14. dave brown 14
    31 December 2014 at 1:27 pm

    How’s this for a New Year Revolution?

    The power of prediction.

    The world economy hasn’t recovered from 2008 recession because there is still too much surplus capital without prospects of producing profits.

    Without productive growth you cannot pay off debt.

    The Long Depression will continue.

    More bubbles and more recessions.

    Will it kick off in Greece when Syriza becomes the government?

    Michael Roberts on the likelihood of a major global slump and a book plug ‘Essays on Inequality’.

    http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/predictions-for-2015/

  15. Philip Ferguson 15
    31 December 2014 at 2:07 pm

    The gigging musician I most like and admire at present is probably Seth Lakeman, the prodigiously-talented youngest of the three wonderfully-talented Lakeman brothers.

    I’ve finally gotten round to writing a piece about his two most recent solo albums, Tales from the Barrelhouse and Word of Mouth.

    I guess Seth descibes himself as a folk musician or as a ‘wooden instrument musician’, part of what in Britain has been dubbed ‘nu folk’. This is a rather muscular, sinewy type of folk, with a partially rock sensibility. I can imagine hard rock bands doing some of Seth’s songs quite comfortably.

    Anyway, while you’re enjoying time out during the Xmas-New Year break you might take a look at the review and follow up some of the music links on it.

    Seth’s Live at the Minack Theatre DVD, recorded at the stunning Minack down in Cornwall near Land’s End, is magnificent – probably my all-time favourite music DVD, just beating out Cream’s 1968 Royal Albert Hall concert and the Band’s The Last Waltz.

    Anyway, my review is here: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/seth-lakemans-workers-lives-review-of-tales-from-the-barrelhouse-and-word-of-mouth/

    Phil

  16. McFlock 16
    31 December 2014 at 2:15 pm

    Lol
    ure takes a break, pgtips takes up the “whacko of the day” mantle.

    • Tracey 16.1
      31 December 2014 at 2:22 pm

      it is the apparent contradictions which i struggle with. when they are presented with them they get defensive and diversive.

      • Stephanie Rodgers 16.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 2:32 pm

        It’s too consistent to be ignorance or accident, and the way it derails entire forums is deliberate.

        • Ad 16.1.1.1
          31 December 2014 at 3:54 pm

          I noted two of your posts were top ten of the year.

          Hope TS can continue to have your talented and clearly resonating contributions in 2015 while you continue to build elsewhere.

          • Pete George 16.1.1.1.1
            31 December 2014 at 4:54 pm

            The building elsewhere may not be at On The Left.

            @stephanierodgrs

            It’s been a difficult day, but just so you know: I’m officially stepping down as co-editor of On The Left.

            My personal Twitter drama should not be used to pressure bloggers about where they can write. This is the easiest solution to that.

            [Stephanie: Deleted your insults. I doubt you have any idea what has happened over the past two days on Twitter, but it doesn’t matter because you’re just taking a cheap shot based on an upsetting experience for many people. Do not attack Standard authors in this way.]

            • Ecosse_Maidy 16.1.1.1.1.1
              31 December 2014 at 8:51 pm

              Cant you not just Wish Everyone a Happy New Year PG??
              You know even 100 years ago the troops that were trying to kill each other managed to call a truce..play a bit of football and exchange gifts.Yet you seem to love perpetual aggro, how about it Pete & Ego….A Wee Truce? Wish us what we wish you, health, happiness, peace? Ermm No?Oh silly me for a moment i thought I was reasoning with a rational human being.
              Ok Sod it Fook You! .I just wonder how Mrs George & The Wee Georges put up with him.

      • Ad 16.1.2
        31 December 2014 at 3:51 pm

        “Slippery Slope” arguments (x was bad, y had similar elements but not as bad, z was similar to both therefore all were bad therefore theres no distinction really so stop complaining) …
        aren’t worth engaging with as they have no principle or value embedded to hold to or build.

        Hold them to principle, and all that is solid to them melts into air.

    • Sacha 16.2
      31 December 2014 at 2:23 pm

      fricking tag-team of disordered thinking

    • The Al1en 16.3
      31 December 2014 at 2:34 pm

      He didn’t have a very good day yesterday, that much is true.
      Some of his posts were just way out there and total whack-a-doodle stuff.
      Worst of all is the hypocrisy, second the belligerent ignorance.

      Going on at people for not answering his questions, calling mcflock rightwing, being challenged to prove how so, and then declining to provide the answer.
      If it wasn’t so funny it’d be quite sad. I was embarrassed for him, so that’s saying something.

      I do hope he ups his game from just launching into tirades, rants and insults.
      Any knob polisher can do that.

      • George Hendry 16.3.1
        31 December 2014 at 4:20 pm

        Greetings those left At The End Of The Day 🙂

        I like to think that by taking this on we are helping Mr Hager with his work, through having to raise our games to nearer his level.

        Trolls are like viruses that test our immune system. If one day we get raided ourselves it might help to know our defence that bit more thoroughly than we would do just for normal purposes of understanding.

        Cheers all.

  17. Te Reo Putake 17
    31 December 2014 at 4:12 pm

    I have a terrific idea for a film. I think I’ll call it Sharkturbo. Thanks, Stuff.

    “It was likely that the shark was attracted into the harbour by the large amounts of snapper in the area at the moment, Duffy said, adding that the struggling fish being caught by the group on Monday would have drawn the shark to their boat. It was possible that the shark had moved on since the encounter earlier this week but it was difficult to tell, he said.

    Great white sharks could reach speeds of 112 kilometres an hour and it could be long gone by now, Duffy said.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/64572915/great-white-shark-hooked-in-aucklands-waitemata-harbour

    • Te Reo Putake 17.1
      31 December 2014 at 6:28 pm

      Whew! It turns out that great whites don’t go 112 kph. According to the updated stuff article they now go “at least 45 kilometres an hour”. Yep, the interns are running the msm for the next four days.

  18. Rosie 18
    31 December 2014 at 4:52 pm

    Is it safe to come out? Has the PG storm blown over? Yes? Good.

    Well, 2014 can just fu*k right off. (With apologies for the non festive sentiment). What a year eh?! We’re still here with the natz in charge.
    May 2015 bring a renewed sense of hope, determination and a good collective effort at unity and focus on the Left.

    And may you, comrades, find happiness, health and a content sense of well being. For those who are struggling, and we all know that in Aotearoa, that’s too many, may you find your circumstances change and life become more fulfilling. Go well in 2015 🙂

    • greywarshark 18.1
      31 December 2014 at 5:18 pm

      @ Rosie
      It was such a disappointment for you all in your electorate to see the votes going the other way. It should have been different. We should all give you a toast on January 1 because you stuck to the task of going for a new party in a new year. Not your fault that you weren’t successful.

      It has been good to read you Rosie and hope that will be so in 2015. Cheers ^~^

      • Rosie 18.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 6:42 pm

        Cheers Warbs. Yes, it should have been different. Lots of people, both Labour party aligned and non party aligned worked really hard to bring a major change in Ohariu. Our bitter disappointment here was was held within a microcosm of the countrywide disappointment, but it has taken a long time to get over it, locally and nationally.

        I really felt for the Scots too, their chance at independence lost, on the same weekend, we lost our chance at change. Their stakes of course, were that much higher than ours but at least we, if we work hard enough, can change our fortunes, three years from now. So compared to the Scots, our task, from now on is straight forward.

        All the best to you Warbs. I always enjoy your thoughtful posts. 🙂

        • greywarshark 18.1.1.1
          31 December 2014 at 8:45 pm

          Thanks Rosie
          And about the Scots, my impression is that they can have another go so Britain had better pull their socks up or it mightn’t be as great as it thinks it is. I think I read a warning about another ref. but if someone knows different then please say.

  19. Murray Rawshark 19
    31 December 2014 at 7:04 pm

    I’m happy to be here to see the New Year and give thanks to the left wing Australians who built a decent health system. Those in charge today build nothing – they are lunatics of destruction. The Labor and Labour parties are different – they are the justifiers of destruction.

    Happy New Year to most of you.

    • tc 19.1
      31 December 2014 at 8:03 pm

      Dunno, hawke keating, Clark, Lange, Whitlam dwarf the likes of Rudd, Gillard, (insert Nz labour pm here) in terms of what can and was done given the game today.

      The deck is very stacked against any significant endemic change without massive electoral shift.

      • Murray Rawshark 19.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 11:44 pm

        The Lange/Douglas ACT regime changed the game to what it is today. Hawke and Keating would have been right at home in Gillard’s government. Kirk was the last Labour PM who actually did much for the people with need. Lange’s government did heaps for people with greed.

  20. Penny Bright 20
    31 December 2014 at 7:42 pm

    Fascinating that the ‘Local Government Commission – Draft Proposal for Reorganisation of Local Government in Wellington Volume 1 Public report: Summary Document December 2014′, states: (page 9)

    “The current system of local government

    2.11 Together the councils of Wellington Region have:

    * financial assets valued at $563 million (30 June 2013)

    * investment in physical assets valued at $12.8 billion (30 June 2013)

    * debt totalling $785 million (30 June 2013)

    * forecast debt totalling $1,336 million (by 30 June 2022)

    * eight mayors, ninety-six councillors (including the regional council chair),
    and 57 community board members

    * full-time equivalent staff totalling 3,256 (April 2014)

    * 321 plans currently produced under the Resource Management Act 1991,
    Local Government Act 2002, Land Transport Management Act and
    Reserves Act.

    2.12 Together the councils of Wellington Region pay:

    * elected member remuneration (including mayors/chair) of $5.3 million per
    annum (2012/13)

    * chief executive officer remuneration of $2.6 million per annum (2012/13)

    * audit fees for the audit of the 2012 – 13 annual reports of $1.36 million

    * audit fees for the audit of the 2012 – 22 long-term plans of $0.863 million

    …………”

    However – no mention whatsoever, about the costs of Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) in the Wellington region, how much for their Boards, CEOs, Executive Staff, non-executive staff etc?

    No mention whatsoever about the number of services throughout the Wellington region, which are contracted-out to the private sector, and how much citizens and ratepayers’ public monies are spent on ‘contract management’, and if (as in Auckland) , such ‘contract management’ is mainly carried out by private sector consultants?

    Having now read the following key documents which pertain to this Wellington ‘Supercity’ proposal:

    1) ‘Wellington Region Local Government Review Panel’ October 2012

    (Rt Hon. Sir Geoffrey Palmer SC (Chair), Sue Driver, Sir Wira Gardiner, Bryan Jackon

    2) ‘Realising the potential of the Wellington region Conclusions of the joint Working Party on Local Government Reform 8/3/2013

    3) ‘Application for Local Government Reorganisation Proposal for a Unitary Authority with Local Boards for the Wellington Region’

    4) ‘Local Government Commission – Draft Proposal for Reorganisation of Local Government in Wellington Volume 1 Public Report: Summary document December 2014’

    I’m unhappy to report that I have seen NO attempt – in any of the above-mentioned reports – to provide any current factual analysis of the unfortunate Auckland Council enforced amalgamation, before attempting to spread what in my considered opinion has been an absolute disaster on the majority of citizens and ratepayers in the Auckland region.

    There has also been NO attempt in any of the above-mentioned reports to take any form of ‘snap shot’ of current services provided across the Wellington region, in order to create some form of factual DATUM upon which a genuine ‘cost-benefit analysis can be based.

    This is the format which I suggested, and for which I provided a template for the Royal Commissioners to use, in order to carry out such an exercise in Auckland.

    STEP ONE:

    A) List down the page, ALL possible Council services which are provided across the Wellington region, alphabetically, and give each Council service its own unique number.

    B) List across the page the abbreviations for each Council in the Wellington region:

    WRC (Wellington Regional Council), WCC (Wellington City Council), PCC ( Porirua City Council), KDC (Kapiti District Council),
    HCC (Hutt City Council), UHCC (Upper Hutt City Council), SWDC (South Wairarapa District Council), CDC (Carterton District Council), MDC (Masterton District Council)

    Then, fill in the following information, for each service in each Council area, the following:

    N/A (Not applicable) – if the Council doesn’t provide that particular service.

    I/H ‘In-House’ – if the Council directly provides that service.

    CCO ‘Council-Controlled-Organisation’ – if that’s how the Council provides that service

    C/Out ‘Contracted Out’ – if this Council service is provided by the private sector

    That would act as a ‘MASTER INDEX’ – which would show at a glance – the overall FACTUAL picture of services currently provided by Councils in the Wellington region.

    STEP TWO

    For each individual, uniquely numbered Council service, then provide the following information:

    List down the page each Council

    WRC
    WCC
    PCC
    KDC
    HCC
    UHCC
    SWDC
    CDC
    MDC

    Then across the page list the key information you want for each Council service.

    eg Dog Control N/A , I/H, CCO, C/Out

    Cost – for the last rating year 2013-2014

    Scope – a brief description of the work covered by ‘Dog Control’ in that Council area (if they cover that work)

    Number of staff employed

    Number of contractors employed

    Vehicles

    Offices

    Pounds

    (sort of thing)

    __________________________________________________________________________________________

    Any thoughtful folk got any feedback on how YOU would establish such ‘devilish details’ in order to help build a FACTUAL DATUM for ‘cost-effectiveness’ / ‘cost-efficiencies’?

    Kind regards

    Penny Bright

    ‘Seeking TRUTH for FACTS’ – as it were 🙂

    [lprent: link damn it. ]

  21. The Al1en 21
    31 December 2014 at 7:47 pm

    Just had my 1000th play on soundcloud.
    Nothing special in the big scheme of things, x10 and I’d have something, but still, milestones and all that.

    Yay me 😉

  22. Clemgeopin 22
    1 January 2015 at 12:07 am

    A very happy,prosperous and pleasant year for each one of you.

    Hope 2015 will be a more fruitful happier year for all the good progressive people and the great progressive parties, Labour, the Greens and Mana.

    Also hope there will be world peace and help to the poor in New Zealand and all around the world.

    Good night and good morning!

  23. Instauration 23
    1 January 2015 at 12:27 am

    Aussie vote on the UNSC Draft Resolution on Palestine…
    So what do we think of our ANZAC brothers ?
    Shame on the majority of Aussie voters !
    Time for them to take responsibility and accountability for the actions of their Government.
    Hey Murray – what are we going to do from Today ? Perisist with the published MFAT doctrine of “anything that progresses a two state solution” ?? and embrace the UNSC opportunity ? – hope those “New World” Christmas Eve boxed chocolates achieved all you intended – we with respect – trust.

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    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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