Phil Quin: our media’s goto dogwhistling Aussie

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, November 29th, 2017 - 93 comments
Categories: David Farrar, Media, Politics - Tags: ,

One thing that always disappoints me in NZ is the complete stupidity of who our local media consider are ‘left’ or ‘labour’ commentators. They are, almost without exception, just outright strange and weird relics of left behind history framing their commentary in terms of long past history of the political left.

For instance Phil Quin has been confidently commenting on NZ politics for many decades from offshore. I only vaguely remember him being involved as a staffer for Phil Goff in my neighbouring electorate of Mt Roskill in the days of the interim government of Jenny Shipley.

As his site bio says

I’m a New Zealander, but spent the past seventeen years between Melbourne, New York and Kigali.

I’ve worked in the field of political communications for a long time, including, most recently, a fascinating three year stint consulting in Rwanda. These days, I’m on an indefinite sabbatical, roaming between Wellington, Vietnam, Europe and the U.S., as I try to write in my own voice for a change.

It is an interesting starting point. But it hardly pertains to politics in NZ. Which is why Phil Quin has always felt to me like a political relic of the past. He seems to still be trying to fight the narrative of a internally disintegrating Labour Party in a new MMP environment.

This is hardly surprising. When he departed our shores is so damn long ago that I now have engineers working with me who would have been entering primary school about the time that he left. He was out of touch with local politics of the left then, and appears to have become more and more politically deranged ever since.

In 1998 when he left, MMP had just had its first run out of the gate, Act with its hard right wing contingent from Labour and National was a prominent part of the political landscape with 7 MPs, the Alliance with its conservative leftish agenda was about the same, and there were a plentitude of small parties all trying grow.

When I was aware of Phil Quin, my opinion was that he was a completely perfect natural for the Act party. He appeared to be one of the manipulative idiots who was more interested in plotting and leverage inside the parliamentary precinct rather than dealing with the obvious issues inside the party. He was engaged in a battle with a rabid female and left enemy that only he seemed to be able to see.

Whenever I think about the toxic Thordon Bubble of left politics, he is the person that I think who epitomises the sheer stupidity of its ego driven ambitions.

In the mid-1990s he was engaged in a persistent verbal war with anything on the left or female or conservation orientated in the Labour Party, including the incumbent leader Helen Clark. As I remember the rumours of the time, he was heavily involved with trying to get her dumped in favour of his Phil Goff. He wrote about it here with some interesting message framing and little

His tactics at the time weren’t those of discussion and consensus. They are those of chaos and disintegration. I have never ever been aware of his to being involved in the process of building anything – the underlying purpose of politics. Instead he is always at the edges trying to destroy social political progress for what? It appears to me to be only for his own advantage.

So why exactly do our media get him to comment on NZ politics?

Well Phil Quin’s only apparent political strength is exactly the same as that of David Farrar who came out of that same 1990s parliamentary hothouse – they are very good at framing dog whistles. Our media are very good at being controlled by dog whistles. It surely beats them having to actually think about anything substantively and keeps that airtime and column inches full.

This latest little effort of Phil Quin on a female green MP shows all of the usual signs of that 1990s bubble misogynist training. It allows the dickheads of our society to indulge in a little slapping down of women in society over a few carefully misinterpreted words. It adds nothing to the political debate apart from massaging their egos. And it is simple bullshit that can be framed in a silly season message for the simple minded.

Perfect for the media, who have been a bit bereft of political column inches recently as the government slowly jells into a working form.

 


BTW: Andrew Geddis has thoroughly debunked the factual underpinning at Pundit in “Contra Quin: Ghahraman still did nothing wrong”

So I’m really struggling to see what the moral difference is between a paid UN defence representative who has volunteered to be a part of the ICTR process (which Quin says is necessary and legitimate) and someone who gets put on a defence team after winning an official slot on the UN internship programme (which Quin seems to think is somehow being complicit with those who are on trial).

and

To then thoroughly damn a 25-year-old Ghahraman for helping to write an academic paper, largely because of the findings of a report that came out four years later, seems remarkably churlish. The paper may be bad or ill-founded (although having looked at its subsequent citations, no-one else seems to have had a problem with it before now). But some sort of apology for genocide or giver of comfort to those who committed it? I think not.

The bit that Andrew Geddis seems to miss is, in my opinion, that she is a conservationist woman in a position of power with a philosophy of fixing things. Personally I couldn’t imagine anything that is more threatening to misogynist egomaniac who thrives on chaos.


Note that the topic on this post is Phil Quin and Media. Comments on Ghahraman will result in simple bans. I expect people to read to the end of my posts before comments, so saying you didn’t see this just earns you an ban extension.

And for the benefit of media, this is not an invitation to get me to become a talking head. I have far better things to do – mostly too technical to explain to media airheads.

Besides, I’m way way too right wing to represent much of the left. These days I just help to make sure that all of the views of the left are aired here.



Updated: Worth reading a post by a international criminal law academic Kevin Jon Heller A Vile and Shameless Attack on Golriz Ghahraman in http://opiniojuris.org/. My favourite bit which completely undercuts one of Phil Quin’s li(n)es is:-

Bikindi’s argument, which Golriz helped develop as one of his attorneys, was that he did not conspire to commit genocide, that he did not commit genocide, that he was not complicit in genocide, that he did not incite genocide, that he did not kill as a crime against humanity, and that he did not persecute as a crime against humanity. And guess what? The Trial Chamber unanimously acquitted Bikindi on every charge other than incitement.

Quin conveniently fails to mention that the Trial Chamber agreed with Bikindi that the other charges had no merit. So when he says — with regard to the genocide deniers’ “twisted view of history” — that “[w]ittingly or not, Ghahraman jumped on that bandwagon. As a public figure, she ought to be judged by such choices,” he is indicting the Trial Chamber no less than Golriz.

Golriz is not a genocide denier, of course. Golriz is a lawyer who defended an individual accused of committing horrible crimes, a necessary role for anyone who takes due process and natural justice seriously. Quin might not care about whether ICTR defendants received fair trials, but the Tribunal itself does. As it notes on its website, “[a]s with other tribunals and courts of law, the Defence has been playing a crucial role in ICTR proceedings, upholding the principle of equality of arms and ensuring the fairness of proceedings.”

Quin’s argument, therefore, is not simply factually challenged. It is offensive.

That is the role of the defense, to challenge prosecution case and to make them prove it. In this case that was exactly what was done. It also means that Phil Quin has been talking bullshit.

hattip: Lew on twitter.

93 comments on “Phil Quin: our media’s goto dogwhistling Aussie ”

  1. RedLogix 1

    I’ll repeat the essence of an earlier reply; this isn’t just a typically scummy hatchet job on an individual; it undermines a critical component of our legal process, the right to a competent defense.

    It’s time for some legal and political heavyweights to step up and end this nonsense. The admirable Mr Geddis has made a stand, but if this is greeted by silence from the left leadership I’ll be damned dissapointed.

    Also the UN itself might well have something to say, as reluctant as they be may be to dignify this with an answer.

    PS. I may be biased, but Quin is no more an Aussie than I am. It’s hardly fair to rope them into this.

    • Booker 1.1

      Completely agree on legal authorities need to step in and make a statement on this – criticizing someone for acting as legal defense for someone you don’t like is criticizing the legal process itself, there’s no way around that conclusion.

      • greywarshark 1.1.1

        If he isn’t to be regarded as an Aussie well we don’t want him do we? What about sending him to North Korea then. With some strict military training and a long worm in his guts getting more off the meagre diet than the host, he would be bound to make a run for it, then the North Koreans could deal with him in their inimitable way.

        A fitting end to a wasted life as John Cleese said in the cheese sketch. (Time for some old and tried black humour).
        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3OQECSDoQ

    • this isn’t just a typically scummy hatchet job on an individual; it undermines a critical component of our legal process, the right to a competent defense.

      Perverting the course of justice perhaps?

      The admirable Mr Geddis has made a stand, but if this is greeted by silence from the left leadership I’ll be damned dissapointed.

      The present parliament should be making a united stand against the BS. That not happening then the the present government should do so.

    • lprent 1.3

      …but Quin is no more an Aussie than I am.

      That was pretty much to highlight that he had been based out of Melbourne for so long now that he was effectively completely ignorant in his understanding of NZ politics.

      It is hard to find many Aussies who have even a vague awareness and understanding of NZ politics or our political system. This shows up both in the rather ignorant aussie politicians and even in many of my relatives who have been there for more than a decade.

      Besides. It is a classic dogwhistle to denigrate him as being just another aussie.. Why should Phil Quin have all of the fun with that technique?

  2. greywarshark 2

    I’m really concerned that this type of democracy destroyer like Quin can get in line with a bunch of similar others and fire verbal depleted-uranium bullets. We are under attack by these people who are not someone else’s side, that can provide better pay and perks.

    They are just mercenaries – the USA is concerned about Russians and terrorists within their midst – but they, like us, have agents within their society that prompt the cliche ‘With friends like that, who needs to look for enemies?’

    Who are these so-called journalists working for? Why do they try and sell their poisonous product in NZ, get money for it, and yet wish to destroy the country and prevent a healthy economy to be the norm. It’s as senseless as any feral predator breeding rapidly and eating its host to a skeleton.

    What links do we have available to us to put our point to these ‘yellow press’ entities?
    Why should open mouthpieces like Quin and others have the red carpet laid down for them to drive their verbiage into the maw of this badly composted heap of crap.

  3. weizguy79 3

    Don’t forget, Quin was the champion of one Nick Leggett, he of the “Labour Party in exile.” Quin claimed that Leggett was the real deal, a true Labour party up-and-comer. Leggett lost the mayoral race, promptly left the Labour party and (in short order) joined the Nats in the hope he might be able to run for National in Mana.

    Quin is your classic bully – happy to throw shit at others, but very thin-skinned when called on it.

  4. roy cartland 4

    And it’s worse when the ‘media’ parrot his bullshit. Andrew Geddis as ever, demolishes the idiocy with accurate, level-headed devastation:

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99345190/rwanda-criticisms-against-golriz-ghahraman-dont-stack-up

    main points I got from the article:
    • She didn’t ‘choose’ to defend the War Crim; she was appointed by the UN body onto the defence legal team.
    • She was an intern – hardly a clout-weilding attorney; so the equivalent of the old court-appointed-lawyer that any old crim must have in any functioning democracy.
    • If the guy didn’t deserve a lawyer, tell that to the UN, not the intern who was doing her (their) job.
    • She was a volunteer lawyer, not a paid one, which Phil Quin apparently despises.
    • Phil Quin is an utter, utter, shit-stirring dickhead.

    • RedLogix 4.1

      Credit to the Herald for publishing Geddis’ level-headed and restrained response. I wonder if there aren’t a few editorial red-faces in the office this morning for giving Quin’s drivel oxygen in the first place.

      The mere fact of them publishing Quin’s utter nonsense in the first place signals their weaknesses. At some level someone wanted this crap to be true, or knowing it to be false, wanted it to cause damage to an entirely innocent party.

      What we really need now is for Ghahraman to get some heavyweight support. Not just to repudiate the attack on her, but more importantly, to signal that the left is in power and will use that power when needed.

      • Anne 4.1.1

        What we really need now is for Ghahraman to get some heavyweight support. Not just to repudiate the attack on her, but more importantly, to signal that the left is in power and will use that power when needed.

        Absolutely, because this bunch of seething, malice driven Nats and their enablers are going to pick off govt. members and their supporters time and again with similarly false memes. It has the potential to hurt many innocent people and should be stopped here and now before it gets out of hand.

      • roy cartland 4.1.2

        “What we really need now ”
        +1.

      • greywarshark 4.1.3

        Ms Ghahraman was doing the defence work of a what was very likely a piece of s..t or the person wouldn’t have been being tried for bad offences. Basically it was a dirty job, and someone had to do it so that the trials and tribulations of justice got properly exercised.

        Why would anyone, anyone, take it upon themselves to think badly of anyone doing this job, especially anyone like Quin, who doesn’t see to have a facility for deep thought. After reading his resume I think it is important to keep his name in the public eye so as to keep his self-promotion going and more jobs coming.

        This is what his site has:
        http://www.philquin.com/pqc/
        BACKGROUND
        After throwing myself into politics and campaigning in my twenties, I’ve been a strategic communications specialist for the past fifteen years. Between 2011-2014, based in Kigali and New York, I consulted to the Government of Rwanda: setting up a whole-of-government communications operation, as well as assisting Rwandan Government as it successfully sought a UN Security Council berth; commemorate twenty years since the Genocide against the Tutsi; and navigate a raft of sensitive and complex diplomatic and political challenges.

        For seven years, I worked as a public affairs consultant in Melbourne after a stint advising Premier Steve Bracks. In 2007-08, I was engaged by the Victorian Government to coordinate communications around the policy response to an historic drought.

        These days, I’m slowly working on a book of autobiographical essays, writing occasional columns on politics for Business Spectator and other publications, while offering strategic counsel, as well as writing and editing services, to clients in Australia, NZ and the U.S.
        http://www.philquin.com/pqc/

    • Unicus 4.2

      Phil Quin is an utter shit stirring dickhead”

      And a darling of NZs Australian owned media monopolists Fairfax .

      A lot of nasty anti- progressive crap has come our way from Aussie lately both before and after the election all of it proliferated by Fairfax – expect more .

      The Libs are donkey deep with National – clearly they preferred an incoherent cynic as PM rather than the erudite highly principled individual they are now confronted with . It is more than a handy coincidence that the Libs favourite media flunkey also owns most of NZs newspapers metropolitan and regional alike.

      Fairfax printing such baseless propoganda in an attempt to undermine our democracy is untenable – time for a very hard look at the legitimacy of their operation here.

  5. Anne 5

    Through some past personal experiences of mine, I have learnt that types like Phil Quin are very good at ingratiating themselves with those in the media and elsewhere whom they believe to be in – or close to – positions of influence. Over time they manage to convince them they are the appropriate ‘go to’ people for comment and supposedly non-biased analysis. Because too many of our journos are lazy and ill informed (or simply don’t know how to do their jobs properly) they tend to use these types because its easier than trying to track down the people who have the real knowledge, experience and understanding of the issues at hand.

    • greywarshark 5.1

      I was listening to Brent Edwards being interviewed by Espiner this morning over Winston’s determined legal review of journalistic chicanery and Brent said it was reprehensible for Winston to do so. A veritable attack on j. integrity etc.

      Perhaps it has happened because too many journos have become ‘lazy and ill-informed’ and forgotten all the things they have been taught about integrity. Rub the dirt in has become the motto for a significant number. No wonder Winston would want to expose this and help them get cleaner.

      Brent has no doubt read Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics but he didn’t mention it while he told his tale of woe about the bad politician who is reacting to being used as clickbait by journos and their bosses who have $ signs decorating their doors, not rules of engagement with the polity.

      • Anne 5.1.1

        I didn’t hear that interview but I think I understand where Brent Edwards is coming from. Journalists need to be able to protect their sources both for themselves and the person/persons who have briefed them. But he seems to have failed to take into account that this particular exercise was ‘dirty politics’ in action designed to bring down Peters. Peters has a right to clear his name of wrong-doing and seek justice in the process.

        I have always classed Brent Edwards as one of our better journalists so I’m surprised he has taken this tack.

        • RedLogix 5.1.1.1

          Brent Edwards has made the mistake of thinking all rights are absolute. They’re not. In this case, one important right … protection of sources, needs to be balanced against two other important rights … the right to privacy, and defense against malicious defamation.

          The indisputable facts of this case are pretty simple; private information held by a govt dept was leaked into the public domain to defame a political figure immediately prior to an election.

          There is clearly no ‘public interest’ defense here; the leak had only a malicious political purpose. There is zero public interest in Winston Peters, or anyone else’s, overpayment of Super. A mistake is solely of concern to WINZ and no-one else.

          If Peters had refused or failed to make repayments in a timely fashion there would have been a story, but this is clearly not the case. WINZ made a mistake, the matter was resolved. End of.

          As a journalist I can understand why ‘protection of sources’ is a principle Brent Edwards values highly. Without it his job would be much harder. Yet like all rights it has limits, and abuses of it are still subject to scrutiny.

          • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1.1.1

            The indisputable facts of this case are pretty simple; private information held by a govt dept was leaked into the public domain to defame a political figure immediately prior to an election.

            There is clearly no ‘public interest’ defense here; the leak had only a malicious political purpose. There is zero public interest in Winston Peters, or anyone else’s, overpayment of Super. A mistake is solely of concern to WINZ and no-one else.

            And the journalists should have known that before publishing it and then thus refused to publish it. This makes the journalists themselves culpable.

            I’m left wondering if the journalists are worried that Winston will drag them before the courts as well now that they’ve realised that they did something wrong and that they have no protection from consequences. He certainly should do.

        • greywarshark 5.1.1.2

          I don’t know what I should think about this and maybe Brent brought something forward that I didn’t hear. This is the Radionz piece I am alluding to.
          http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018623432/deputy-pm-seeks-money-from-journos-over-superannuation-story

          politics
          Deputy PM seeks money from journos over superannuation story
          From Morning Report, 7:21 am today
          Listen duration 5′ :07″

          Winston is seeking money from two journalists over his superannuation over-payment. Our former political editor, and representative on E Tu Union, and the International Federation of Journalists Brent Edwards says it’s an attack on journalists and “reprehensible”. He says Winston Peters should re-think his stance on pursuing members of the press.

          • RedLogix 5.1.1.2.1

            Edwards can’t have it both ways; he can’t insist on absolute protection for journalistic sources, while also denying editorial responsibility for clear cut malicious damages.

            The buck has to stop somewhere.

    • Through some past personal experiences of mine, I have learnt that types like Phil Quin are very good at ingratiating themselves with those in the media and elsewhere whom they believe to be in – or close to – positions of influence. Over time they manage to convince them they are the appropriate ‘go to’ people for comment and supposedly non-biased analysis.

      This is how psychopaths operate.

      • Anne 5.2.1

        Yep. And I was on the receiving end of one. They are also extremely clever at hiding their extracurricular non-verbal activities (nice way of putting it) so that the victim does not always know who the perpetrator is. By the time they find out the evidence can be so difficult to obtain, they end up getting off scot-free.

  6. Ad 6

    A big reason a small political story is getting blown up is because the government is not doing its own good stories to form a more competitive media narrative.

    Even Winston Peters’ election leftovers are getting more traction than the government.

    Mike and Heather know how to feed meat to a dog.

    Chop chop team.

    • RedLogix 6.1

      Nah … it’s tough to trust a dog that hackles, growls and nips every chance it gets. Especially when you can see it being as good as gold for it’s real owner.

    • I tend to agree ad – the government should have stories ready to drop into the media to sort this out. Supporting support parties is essential. This is politics, get into it. You are the government labour – own it and the narratives. Slam dunk the dirty gnats – rub their noses in their snot and stop reacting and start bloody being what we’ve elected you to be.

      • RedLogix 6.2.1

        It’s only a month and everyone is still getting their feet under their desks. The DP crew know this and are working the gap. Throw in the email spam stunt, ongoing coalition agreements, staffing processes … this govt has a very full dance card right now.

        Worst response would be something rushed and politically flawed. I think the best responses would come from the UN itself; Quin is essentially attacking one of their own important programs. Geddis has shown the way.

        • marty mars 6.2.1.1

          Waiting for the un? Yeah nah. Front foot it and expose it for the rubbish it is. A month is enough time to get the feet under the desk. Act like the government and swamp the swamp with messages the government wants the people to believe. Timidity is not a trait for government and either is waiting for someone else to fix it. And get some good un pushback as well.

          • Reality 6.2.1.1.1

            The ministers’ offices have to be staffed with advisers, press secs, portfolio secretaries, so a month is not a long time given incoming appointees no doubt have to give notice if they are in other employment. Maybe three months is a more likely time to be up and running.

        • Ad 6.2.1.2

          This is a fresh government, who have had 9 years to practice what they are going to say, what they are going to roll out, who is going to do it, how to manage the media, and how to succeed as a government.

          “Getting their feet under the desk” is the kind of excuse that only works when your side is failing.

          This lot I voted for have only 36 months – 6 for holidays = 30 months in a whole term to get all their promises done, and to look so good while doing so in the media that they get another term.

          This government needs to get their media shit together.

          • BM 6.2.1.2.1

            This government needs to get their media shit together

            Winston Peters has sunk any chance of that with his court action.

          • red-blooded 6.2.1.2.2

            Don’t be so unreasonable, Ad. These folk didn’t even know that they were going to be in government until Winston revealed all, let alone what responsibilities they’d have. They couldn’t hire staff until they’d sorted out ministries. As an example, I know of one minister who’s appointed a chief press secretary – great, but that guy needs to work out a month’s notice before he can take over (it should be happening in the next few days).

            The Nat team also took time to get started, it’s just that we haven’t had a real change of government for quite a while – we’re used to them just rolling on, and on, and on, and on…

  7. Can’t stand the guy or his pathetic views. Feel some disquiet in aiming at him – just going to make him more of a go to guy but choices are limited. The fact he hasnt lived here is a good one – out of touch, doesn’t know, old ideas and patterns are good media lines to use for this gallah.

    • lprent 7.1

      Feel some disquiet in aiming at him..

      I always do when I’m talking about specific individuals outside of the politicians and their actions.

      However, since 2005 and especially since Dirty Politics lifted the lid on why it was being done and how it was financed, it has become quite apparent that if you don’t express opinions on the motivations of some of the nasty buggers around politics that everything just keeps turning to shit. So over the last decade, I increasingly target individuals who act like arseholes when they get obnoxious enough to start targeting others with dog whistles.

      But I restrict myself to expressing my opinion about them and how I arrived at those opinions – with links. People can take or leave those based on how they view me. It ensures that there is an alternative narrative about them that comes up fast on a search. It is all part of making sure that there is a informed robust debate in the local political sphere.

    • OncewasTim 7.2

      You may have noticed this petulant blokey gallah has now taken to twitter to give his own ego a bit of a stroke in true tuff guy fashion.
      A pathetic ‘widdle’ attempt to belittle those that criticise his message.
      Oh so tuff this man of the whurl (/sarc)

      • OncewasTim 7.2.1

        Actually, the more I think about PQ, the best place for him would be Kigali WITHOUT a credit card

        • DoublePlusGood 7.2.1.1

          Well, his current twitter says he’s in Medellin, Colombia.
          Which makes me wonder what he’s been Medellin in to be over there. It would be nice if he would Rwander somewhere far away from New Zealand and the internet and stay there.

          • OncewasTim 7.2.1.1.1

            Well he sure as hell has been out of NZ long enouğh to have taken on an Okker accent.
            I won’t be surprised when they start locking up Kiwis in Villawood for being fuckwits in charge of an ego…he’ll be screaming the loudest

  8. greywarshark 8

    Can Quin be called a Rhinestone Cowboy? Where does he get money from to enable him to roam about the world talking in his own voice, whatever that is, presumably the voice of the current paymaster? So who is it? Who manipulates this sock puppet?

    Perhaps he will get a voice that will enable him to be the new DarthVader?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mv7hmnWkmo

    Looking at the lyrics of Rhinestone Cowboy they really tell his tale – from the excellent AZLyrics site.

    “Rhinestone Cowboy”
    I’ve been walkin’ these streets so long
    Singin’ the same old song
    I know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Broadway
    Where hustle’s the name of the game
    And nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain
    There’s been a load of compromisin’
    On the road to my horizon
    But I’m gonna be where the lights are shinin’ on me

    Like a rhinestone cowboy
    Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo
    Like a rhinestone cowboy
    Getting cards and letters from people I don’t even know
    And offers comin’ over the phone…

    (And repeat with a slight change to ‘There’ll be’ indicating a future same as the past.)

    There’ll be a load of compromisin’
    On the road to my horizon
    But I’m gonna be where the lights are shinin’ on me…

    ‘Look out ‘possum and don’t get dazzled by the lights shinin’ on you’ cries Dame Edna Everage from Australia where he belongs – up a tree! He should be able to get some entertainment role in Oz that would use his vivid and protean imagination.

  9. weka 9

    I thought it was interesting that The Newsroom piece by Quin has this as his byline,

    “Phil Quin is a former Labour staffer in New Zealand and Australia.”

    It’s kind like describing Prebble as a former Labour MP and not saying anything else. Maybe that’s an attempt to frame Quin as left wing, or maybe as Lynn’s points out there’s just not much else to say about him that’s politically pertinent.

    • Hooch 9.1

      They always run that line whenever he is used for comment. I think it is to create the meme that labour are an infighting rabble.

      It should read that he is a former Labour Party staffer who didn’t have the balls to join ACT.

      There must be quite a few former labour staffers. Why this joker always gets air time is beyond me. Is it because it’s always critical? Seems likely.

    • greywarshark 9.2

      Sounds like he is desperate to hang onto something that gives him some background, but it is pretty thin so why do the media put up with him? Is it a guy thing? I worked for Labour as an electorate volunteer but what exalted information does that imply about me for a CV? Lots of people have worked in political parties at different times, but wouldn’t be given a by-line as if they have been an advisor or confidant of the Party’s inner workings.

  10. Bill 10

    Hmm. A puerile, and easily countered attack is made on an MP.

    Prominently placed “column inches” are chewed on the attack and associated phenomenon…with the result that those launching the attack control the greater narrative.

    What have they drowned out or distracted our attention from? (Maybe nothing.)

    But when it’s all done and dusted, are people in general – those who pay scant attention to political news – going to have any impression other than some vague notion that there’s something untoward about Golriz Ghahraman?

    If so, then it’s “mission accomplished” from the perspective of those who blew smoke.

    • +111

      And the ones who blew smoke won’t be held accountable for their immoral actions.

    • SPC 10.2

      This was timed for the end of the Oz detention camp in Oz and the asylum seekers being forced into local centres on Papua New Guinea.

      The USA has just agreed to take 70 of them (including some on Nauru as refugees) – they have first pick. As this develops there will be calls by the UN for other nations to do something as well.

      Whaleoil has already reported on moves within the government to prepare for hosting (greater number) refugees – and suggested that this is linked to taking some from Papua New Guinea.

      National will try and raise the issue of impact on relations with Oz, if and when anything is announced, and seek to make this unpopular. An attack on Greens (via critical attention to an Iranian refugee,when some of the asylum seekers are from Iran) is designed to impugn their human rights activism “moral high ground” ahead of this.

  11. mauī 11

    I’m finding it bizarre that Quin, a guy probably 99.9% of the New Zealand public don’t know of, writing out of Colombia or some other far off land can get headline media coverage here across print, internet and tv and hold one of our politicians to account. Almost like he’s the head of state of another country who is an expert in human rights, and his target who is the real expert we should have been hearing from is put into the defensive position from the get go.

    Surreal.

    • Ed 11.1

      The question is how and why he gets such access.

    • Ad 11.2

      We are one of a handful of left governments in the world right now, and the only one with the Greens in it.

      The whole of the world’s Labour and left and Greens are watching us.

      So don’t be surprised if we get more than our fair share in The Guardian and elsewhere.

  12. Psych nurse 12

    This whole exposure from Quin has the feel of something personal rather than ideological.He obviously was in possession of information not available to others.

    • red-blooded 12.1

      Well, for starters he’s worked in Rwanda and so would be more likely than others to keep track of who did what in the UN team.

      Plus, if you read that old Herald article Lprent links to (the one written in 2012), it’s clear that he feels he was hounded out of the Labour Party by the “left” and by women in power. He seems to see Helen Clark as an extremist lefty – I think that tells us a lot about this guy. And the idea that the party is now led by a woman again..? I think there’s a lot of anti-feminist ideology that oozes out of PQ’s writings.

      • SPC 12.1.1

        He’s been on the outer since he was part of the team seeking to remove Clark as leader in 1996.

        His commentary since 2008 is his way of trying to be return to relevancy in the post Clark era. A man seeking a patron within the party on the one hand and on the other offering external critique until he gets it. A bitter ex.

  13. SPC 13

    What’s truly bizarre is that Quin’s attack lines were so inconsistent, a mere volunteer intern on the one hand and then somehow the one culpable for the defence strategy (and described in an over the top way as “denying the genocide”). Yet no one in the media has questioned this.

    It must have been apparent that there was some agenda behind this and rather than just provide a vehicle for it, some attempt to determine what it is. But no.

    It does demonstrate how easily our media can be used as a vehicle to magnify Trumplike trash talk on social media, well at least once they are repeated on Kiwiblog and Whaleoil – soon followed by our Fox media/ZB right wing talk.

    Ardern should consider Key’s strategy, often on ZB seldom on National Radio, in reverse.

    • Muttonbird 13.1

      There’s a wider inconsistency too.

      Quin’s beef is that she, according to him, specifically chose to defend the Rwandans and therefore she is complicit with, and endorsing of, their crimes. This is bizarre in itself but also inconsistent with his fellow RWNJs who have no issue with her role in the UN defence teams, but rather the flimsy charge that she deliberately hid her defence work from the public.

    • marty mars 14.1

      Awesome response.

    • RedLogix 14.2

      Excellent rebuttal from someone who really knows what he’s talking about. A must read.

      Turns out if you read the comment from Ruth under that post, Quin himself may well have some questions to answer; ie is he being completely transparent about who he’s working for.

  14. ianmac 15

    Are we surprised? Jordan Williams now claims Green infighting and that,
    ” Her former clients, Simon Bikindi – sentenced to 15 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for incitement of genocide in Rwanda – and the “Butcher of Bosnia” – responsible for the worst atrocities in post-war Europe – seem odd picks for the then 27-year-old to pause her career as an Auckland barrister to defend.”
    Williams is ” a Wellington-based lawyer, lobbyist, commentator, and former member of the Green Party.” Is that all he is???
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11949712

    • dv 15.1

      Who to believe

      http://opiniojuris.org/2017/11/28/a-shameless-attack-on-golriz-ghahraman/

      Bikindi’s argument, which Golriz helped develop as one of his attorneys, was that he did not conspire to commit genocide, that he did not commit genocide, that he was not complicit in genocide, that he did not incite genocide, that he did not kill as a crime against humanity, and that he did not persecute as a crime against humanity. And guess what? The Trial Chamber unanimously acquitted Bikindi on every charge other than incitement.
      Quin conveniently fails to mention that the Trial Chamber agreed with Bikindi that the other charges had no merit. So when he says — with regard to the genocide deniers’ “twisted view of history” — that “[w]ittingly or not, Ghahraman jumped on that bandwagon. As a public figure, she ought to be judged by such choices,” he is indicting the Trial Chamber no less than Golriz.

      • greywarshark 15.1.1

        Simon Bikindi is a musician. I repeat a link put in by roy cartland at 4 about him and when Ms Ghahraman met him. I am reminded of what emphasis the music of the people has on them, and how governments like to make them scapegoats. Greece did this with its popular musician Mikis Theodorakis, and he had to flee the country. In the way of following or arousing widespread emotions and thoughts, the musicians can be blamed by some without them having turned a violent hand.

        If only we could do more dancing to music when in military uniform. These music titles refer to Bikindi. (But feelings run hot, the comments in English below some of the music are still show negative feelings.)
        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePCIAn9v4aw
        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR0ZsEFypoo
        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-nSCyfn3fM

        Here is Mikis Theodorakis composition around a Greek poet’s recollections of being imprisoned in WW2 in Germany, which also happened to Theodorakis.
        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfCThxxRE48

        These are all real people who know suffering and aren’t just bit players come into the international scene to make some money being useful functionaries. Quin echoes the experiences of other UN workers who achieve some understanding but ultimately are not deeply moved.

      • ianmac 15.1.2

        Great dv. Thanks

    • marty mars 15.2

      Dirty politics in action, in real-time. CNN Live will be showing it soon.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 15.3

      Williams is wrong. Golriz Ghahraman discussed this with Duncan Garner on the AM show. I wonder how long the Herald is going to get away with publishing these defamatory smears.

      Stage 2: Anger. When the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue, they become frustrated, especially at proximate individuals.

      Nice to see the National Party moving on a little bit.

    • greywarshark 15.4

      Former member of the Green Party. Well they are a public party and don’t go round weeding out people on the basis of wealth/aspirations or having good, positive attitudes to the polity or commitment to as much truthfulness as possible. Really they are awfully common, they will accept anybody, and I am sure that Mr Jordan Williams soon found that he could better himself elsewhere and eventually formed the Taxpayers Union with David Farrar (which is based on an implicit lie that there are special people who pay unreasonably high Tax and a whole lot of others who pay low ‘tax’ or freeload.)

      6/2/16 The 29-year-old set up the Taxpayers’ Union three years ago, with National Party pollster David Farrar, to expose wasteful public spending and advocate for fiscal conservatism. They claim independence, but won’t reveal the source of their $191,000 a year in donations.
      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/76443761/National-portrait-Taxpayers-Union-founder-Jordan-Williams

      Now an expensive spat with Colin Craig is finalising. 22/11/17
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99111861/jordan-williams-might-be-victim-of-his-own-success-in-defamation-case

    • Ed 15.5

      Do the media still use Jordan Williams as a source?
      After Dirty Politics?

      • One Anonymous Bloke 15.5.1

        Journalists will use anyone as a source. Especially someone who’s so widely spread.

    • red-blooded 15.6

      This guy seems to have been taken on as a hitman by The Herald.

      No evidence of in-fighting, I notice – just a bold assertion that he hopes will embed itself in people’s thinking.

  15. Ed 16

    Maybe the Herald could trawl through Twitter looking for anyone with an agenda against the government.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 17.1

      Typical right winger: projects his own shit.

      • Anne 17.1.1

        And typical psychopathic behaviour.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 17.1.1.1

          Pop-science aside, I suspect Psychology isn’t based on replicable results, and that being so, using its terms to form judgements may be unwise.

          Neurolaw provides better ground.

    • greywarshark 17.2

      5/11/2011 ‘Phil Quin is a New York-based writer and commentator on media and politics.’
      The world is his oyster and everyone that does anything positive to help in any situation is fodder for this man to undermine or attack, if there is some advantage in it for him. That seems how he makes his living.

      On Rwanda –
      Last month Human Rights Watch said that authorities have arrested, forcibly disappeared and threatened political opponents since the August presidential election. President Paul Kagame, who has been de facto leader or president since the end of the country’s 1994 genocide, won the election with over 98 percent of votes.
      https://nypost.com/2017/10/10/watchdog-rwandan-military-routinely-tortures-beats-detainees/

      https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/rwanda-paul-kagame-americas-darling-tyrant-103963
      Kagame, credited with commanding the rebel force that put an end to Rwanda’s genocide 20 years ago, has made himself a global celebrity. Bill Clinton hails him as among “the greatest leaders of our time.” Tony Blair calls him a “visionary.” Bill Gates works closely with him. Kagame has spoken at Harvard and received honorary doctorates from a number of universities in the United States and Europe. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also a fan, telling Kagame in May, “I hope many African nations will emulate what Rwanda is doing. I highly commend you.” The praise inside Rwanda, in the press and public forums, is even more effusive. When I ask Rwandan citizens why there is no criticism of their president, I am told there is nothing to criticize. The political “opposition” consists of parties that refuse to speak out against Kagame even during elections, and there is talk of soon scrapping the constitution’s two-term limit for presidents so he can run in 2017 for a third time.

      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rwanda-politics/mother-of-rwandan-presidents-challenger-tells-court-of-torture-idUSKBN1CI23P

      It worked for Robert Mugabe and in Zimbabwe they are delicately edging him out in his 90s. Trying to do anything against a military mindset that likes parades with soldiers goose-stepping is chilling. We need to take notice as the left wing are in a minority around the world. Can we hold off against the freelance mercenaries who know that the pen can be mightier than the sword.

    • Muttonbird 17.3

      Presumably Phil Quin is very happy with events around the arrest and charging of this woman, Diane Shima Rwigara.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/09/29/she-tried-to-run-against-rwandan-president-paul-kagame-now-shes-looking-at-20-years-in-prison/?utm_term=.76640834dd83

      It would fit nicely with Quin’s attitude to women in politics, as outlined above. And in light of his very personal and emotional attack on Ghahraman it also fits nicely with Quin’s attitude to vocal women in politics – that they have no place there and should resign, or be thrown in prison, simply for doing their job.

      Quin’s problem is that the more he squeals about Ghahraman, the more his own endorsements, like that of the increasingly despotic Paul Kagame, will come under question.

      I suspect in Quin’s mind though, like most other pure capitalists, the fact Rwanda (like China) has lifted some people out of poverty is reason enough to turn a blind eye to abuses of power and vacuums of democracy.

    • marty mars 17.4

      Wow he really is dirty and bloody nasty.

  16. Muttonbird 19

    I think a lot more work needs to be done investigating Phil Quin’s advocacy and consultancy for the anti-democratic Kagame government of Rwanda.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/05/paul-kagame-secures-third-term-in-rwanda-presidential-election

    For instance, Paul Kagame won this year’s election with 99% of the vote, and by 98% of the vote a constitutional amendment to remove a two term limit allowing him to continue to 2034.

    This is Robert Mugabe territory.

    He did this while having the election commission strike off any challenger but one and then arresting and charging another challenger in September. Even to Phil Quin these numbers and actions must ring alarm bells as they seem to be the result of anti-democratic conditions on the ground in Rwanda. The strong-arming of opponents must be disturbing to Phil.

    Phil Quin did consult for this one party state government and one wonders whether he wants the same sort of arrangement here in New Zealand, the National Party being in charge forever.

    The media hasn’t really touched on Phil Quin’s work for the Kagame government so far. I’d like to know more.

  17. millsy 20

    Latte-drinking hipster Phil Quin is/was a supporter of Bush, Blair and Clinton. 3 of the biggest war criminals out. He doesn’t mind a good massacre, as long as those doing the massacaring have UK and US flags on their uniforms.

    And it’s a bit rich of him to complain about how out touch Labour is, when all he does is go to cafes and gallery openings.

  18. millsy 21

    That said, Golriz and her party should have known that this was going to cause a shit storm and planned accordingly.

    This governments opponents will not show mercy or quarter or anything like that. I don’t think it’s members and supporters realise that.

    • Benny 21.1

      Phil’s attack’s on her are classic Rwandan PR strategy which he thought he had perfected. Attack anyone who criticizes the despotic regime with claims of genocide denial, shame them into submission so that they would back off forced to resign from their positions. Classic mate!

      The mistake he made this time round was an unsubstantiated defamatory attack on someone in a country that demands accountability from folks who won’t be bullied or brow beaten into submission. And he did this to a lawyer who has all the time, resources and knowledge to pursue a defamation case against him!!! He’s since realized his tenuous situation and apologized to her, probably under the threat of legal action.

      Rwanda’s PR tactics are no longer effective and their leader is being called to account for his human rights abuses. This time round, Phil Quin will be the wiser if he understands this and disassociates himself and his mercernary penmanship from this government: if he ever hopes to work for a respectable organization in the future.

  19. Alexandra 22

    More on Phil Quin- how he quickly dismissed and deflected from a criticism of torture in Rwandan jails. http://digitaldjeli.com/2012/amnesty-international-denounces-use-of-torture-in-rwandan-military-detention-rwandan-pr-reacts/

    • Benny 22.1

      Quin’s attack on Ghahraman is classic Rwandan PR strategy which he practiced and honed while working for that government’s PR department: attack any critics of the regime with claims of genocide denial, cower them into submission and hope that eventually they will resign.

      The mistake that he made this time round is that he did so in a country that demands accountability for baseless claims and character assassination. In a country that wasn’t going to take this sitting down. He also made the claims against a lawyer who is backed by a legal fraternity that sure knows everything about character defamation. They have all the time, patience and resources to take Quin down in the courts. How dumb can one be? He’s since had to issue a half-witted apology to Ghahraman on Twitter and retract his “genocide denier” claims.

      The fact is, the Rwandan regime is increasingly being called to account for its human rights abuses. Mr. Quin should act now and reexamine his support of this regime and his career in mercenary penmanship. Act now before you have to face the consequences of a tattered reputation!

    • Muttonbird 22.2

      A couple of thoughts having read that article:

      It’s important to know what people’s motivations are and take that into account when listening to their ‘message’.

      In Phil Quin’s case he has acted directly (and probably still does indirectly) in PR consultancy for the Paul Kagame government and at one point specifically for Rwanda Police.

      It’s worth noting the Kagame regime and its police and military are heavily criticised for human rights abuses including the use of torture.

      In reality Phil’s work in Rwanda involves actively and in current time defending the regime for contemporary abuses and advising them on how to paint any opposition as ‘genocide deniers’. This what he did to Ghahraman.

      Interestingly while his website does say he did consultancy work in Rwanda, it doesn’t say it was for the Rwanda police who seem to be indulging in torture. Absolute clarity of course is something he and other RWNJs demand of Ghahraman.

      Oddly though the media tells us he is a saint who ‘worked with genocide victims’.

      • Benny 22.2.1

        What is very important to understand is that the Rwandan regime’s legitimacy and raison d’etre stems from the narrative that they stopped this genocide and committed no abuses themselves. They will do whatever it takes to disrupt contrarian views, including hiring consultants such as Phil Quin.

        Think about the lengths the Trump Administration is going to in order to deflect and hold back what Mueller is about to uncover about Russia. It is the same intensity and the same relentless drive to preserve legitimacy.

  20. Benny 23

    Quin’s attack on Ghahraman is classic Rwandan PR strategy which he practiced and honed while working for that government’s PR department: attack any critics of the regime with claims of genocide denial, cower them into submission and hope that eventually they will resign.

    The mistake that he made this time round is that he did so in a country that demands accountability for baseless claims and character assassination. In a country that wasn’t going to take this sitting down. He also made the claims against a lawyer who is backed by a legal fraternity that sure knows everything about character defamation. They have all the time, patience and resources to take Quin down in the courts. How dumb can one be? He’s since had to issue a half-witted apology to Ghahraman on Twitter and retract his “genocide denier” claims.

    The fact is, the Rwandan regime is increasingly being called to account for its human rights abuses. Mr. Quin should act now and reexamine his support of this regime and his career in mercenary penmanship. Act now before you have to face the consequences of a tattered reputation!

  21. Priss 24

    Shame on Quinn for his dirty politics against a new MP!!

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    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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