Progressive social media

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, October 10th, 2014 - 70 comments
Categories: blogs, david cunliffe, election 2014, grant robertson, labour, Media, national - Tags: ,

Right now is an ideal time for the left to rethink our approach to social media and in this post I will outline a couple of examples showing why there has to be a better way.

This week I did something that should give me automatic entry to lefty heaven. I waded through the filth and debris on the site known as Whaleoil and counted the number of posts this year that have been posted with the David Cunliffe tag.

There were 973 of them. Nine hundred and seventy freaking three of them. Three point five posts every day, every single day including Sundays and holidays.  One could describe the obvious fixation as being somewhat obsessional.

There were basic all out assault type posts, silly cartoons, pictures with naff comments, amplification and regurgitation of rumours and claims about leaks within the labour party.  There was lots and lots of advice for the Labour Party which I suspect was not motivated by a desire to help.

The posts were all utterly negative. Cameron obviously has a terribly distressingly negative view of the world.  Of course he may not have written them all himself.  In fact from the disclosures in Dirty Politics it may be that the National Research Unit wrote most of them.

But really?  973 of them?  They must have had some effect on Cunliffe’s reputation.  Of course the actions of some within the party have also have had an effect.  But that is a story for another day.

It is not only progressive politicians who have felt the damaging effect of Slater’s particular form of blogging.  Yesterday David Fisher in the Herald reported about Matt Blomfield and his trials and tribulations with Slater.  The article starts off with this passage:

Matt Blomfield was beaten bloody. A shotgun blast ringing in his ears. Blows from the stock of the weapon splitting skin to send blood running down his face.

It was a horrifying attack at home. His children were watching. One stood at the window as her father grappled with the intruder. The other sought shelter in the house, seeking safety from the armed man who brought violence to their home.

Blomfield had fought off the attacker, fiercely enough that police later found blood from which they took DNA.

He struggled to think who might want him hurt, or worse. In the end, he came up with a suspect list of 285,000 people – the monthly readership of the Whaleoil blog, who he believed had been given every reason to think he was one of the worst people in New Zealand.

Blomfield obviously believes there to be a link between the treatment he has received on Slater’s blog and the physical treatment he received during the attack.  Dirty Politics has given many other examples of difficulties created for innocent individuals by Slater’s particular mode of blogging.

The really sad thing about the election result is that Dirty Politics seemed to have no effect on the result.  The system was detailed for us.  The collation of information using Beehive resources, the bundling of stories, the breaking of these stories on Slater’s site so the media could then report on them.  But nothing has changed.  Slater continues in his way posting multiple posts each day, attacking people, feeding stories to the media and continuing his media speaking slots with tame right wing media institutions.

There has to be a better way because the thought of the continuation of the status quo is somewhat disturbing.  For Labour if David Cunliffe retains the leadership these attacks will not stop.  And if he is replaced then there will be continuous attacks on the new leader in an attempt to undermine and suck confidence.  Slater already appears to be gearing up for a possible change.  For instance Grant Robertson has had 128 tagged posts this year but the rate is increasing with 45 since the election.  Andrew Little has had 44 in the past year with 13 since the election.

Progressives need to have a discussion about how we are going to handle social media over the next three years and counter the negative effect that the right is having on general media discourse.  I believe the Standard has an important role to play but the effectiveness of Nicky Hager’s particular form of journalism is impossible to ignore.  An enhanced blog presence with sufficient resources to allow for some research may be the solution because clearly currently there is a severe resource imbalance.  Whatever change is made allowing the current right wing dominance to continue should not be an option.

70 comments on “Progressive social media ”

  1. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1

    I wonder how many posts there have been on the Standard this year on John Key? I wonder how many were complimentary?

    • mickysavage 1.1

      308 tagged “John Key”. But in terms of substance and approach they are totally different. But of course I would say this …

      • alwyn 1.1.1

        There are, of course many more posts on WO’s blog than there are here. I do not have the stomach to check any further but if yesterday was typical of both sites there were five times as many posts on WO (35) as there were here (7). That would imply, very roughly, that a 60% greater proportion of the posts on the Standard were about John Key than were the WO posts about Cunliffe.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1

          I think you’ll find that one day isn’t enough data to come to any useful conclusions.

          • phillip ure 1.1.1.1.1

            @ draco..

            “..I think you’ll find that one day isn’t enough data to come to any useful conclusions.,:

            if that ‘one day’ is an average day..you can..

            ..f.y.i..

            whoar.co.nz stories/links posted 10/10/14:

            8 international politics..

            9 local politics..

            10 entertainment. (reviews/music-links etc..)

            ..and 11 of what i called general..as they applied universally..

            ..that is a total of 38 stories/links..

            ..and that is the stats from one day..that print a pretty accurate picture..

            ..of what is there every day..

            (and as per slaters’ blog vs standard on number of stories posted..

            ..that comparison cited wd be pretty close to accurate..)

    • ankerawshark 1.2

      Oleolebiscuitbarrell. Yes many posts, but none picked up by msm.

      Also perhaps Mickey can cast some light on the criticism of DC in the attack posts. The one’s I am familiar with are things like DC eating lunch alone = “no friends Nigel”. Not policy.

      Key gets criticized on this site cause of his policies. WO attacks people who are opponants in an orchestrated way to bring them down. If you doubt this read DP’s the chapter on Mark Mitchell and the National Party.

      • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.2.1

        “Key gets criticized on this site cause of his policies.”

        Fuck me!

        • alwyn 1.2.1.1

          Having been rather critical of DotCom leading his idiot followers in the chant about Key, I’m afraid I will have to turn down your invitation.
          Please don’t feel rejected.

    • higherstandard 1.3

      I wonder how many posts there have been on the Standard this year on Slater/whaleoil ?

      This site seems to bounce between KDS (Key derangement syndrome) and SDS (Slater derangement syndrome) depending on the weather.

      • mickysavage 1.3.1

        58 tagged “Cameron Slater” and 21 tagged “whaleoil” although I suspect that he has had a lot more mentions especially since the publication of Dirty Politics.

  2. ankerawshark 2

    IMHO one of the problems is msm picking up stuff from Whale Oil (and probably using the tip line). This as someone has put it is the third track of the strategy. Jared Savage is a prime example of this, backed up and re-inforced by the likes of John Armstrong (e.g. “Cunliffe must quit”).

    One of the reasons I am supportive of DC staying is that it if he goes, it re-inforces the three track strategy.

    David Fisher in my book is a true journalist (including him detailing and outlining his contact with Whale Oil and why he refrained from continuing with it). He is one person in the msm who seems to be picking up and reporting the real story about WO.

    I have no good ideas about what to do about it. Unless someone such as Fisher could do an expose based on your truly heroic research about wtf is going on with all the attack posts on the Leader of the opposition.

  3. Tom Jackson 3

    Progressives need to have a discussion about how we are going to handle social media over the next three years and counter the negative effect that the right is having on general media discourse.

    I’m not sure myself how this will work. Slater et al. are piggybacking on the social changes of the last 30 years, most notably the diminished role of truth and evidence in public discourse. Facts are now for many private consumption goods, to be accepted or rejected depending on the consumer’s desires.

    The usual response of the left to a Slater smear is to point out that it is factually incorrect, but that doesn’t do much, because facts no longer matter so much in public discourse. Al Gore wrote a pretty decent book about this some years ago, but even he, bright as he is, didn’t have much in the way of a solution.

  4. BM 4

    There were 973 of them. Nine hundred and seventy freaking three of them. Three point five posts every day, every single day including Sundays and holidays.

    Which is around 13% of the posts whale oil has done this year, the guy does at least 20-30 posts a day.

    Compare that to The Standard, which does at a guess around 4-5 posts a day.
    308 posts tagged as John Key

    That works out at 21.8%.

    Hmmm, looks like a bit of an unhealthy fixation to me,

    • RedLogix 4.1

      On the other hand how many of those 20-30 posts a day are just links to trash videos?

      And frankly given that we know at least some of his posts are sourced from others, and Slater’s demonstrably slim ethics – I doubt he writes many of his posts at all.

    • Skinny 4.2

      I wouldn’t sweat it if I was Micky, DC’s high numbers will drop soon enough and be replaced by Andrew Little tags. Par for the territory I guess.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.3

      Once you take out the trash posts, videos and posts made by others under WO name then that 13% probably accounts for 90% of content produced by Slater himself.

    • Aaron 4.4

      Of course 21.8% of posts at The Standard are tagged ‘John Key’. This is a political blog and he is the Prime Minister! If you’ve got an idea about how we can keep John Key out of the news, there are a lot of people involved with this blog who would love to hear it .

  5. Bill 5

    I’m thinking you’re reaching for the wrong end of the stick there mickey. The problem isn’t Slater and Farrar promoting nonsense – all things being equal, who would care?

    The problem is that major newspapers and TV outlets go there to feed, and so amplify and legitimise the bullshit they publish.

    If ts or other blogs were to waste time fisking their posts (was that what you suggest?), then they’d get even more oxygen at the expense of ts and other blogs producing (sometimes) quality, thought provoking posts on important and relevant subjects.

    Somebody suggested to me that it would be a good idea if all the academics and others who were vilified by Slater/Farrar had a single outlet where their experiences were gathered. That would, I guess, be up to those vilified to pen/explain their experiences where such posts weren’t merely illustrative of the two tier mechanism employed by the right.

    Whatever, I’m picking that the best way to end the shit is to bombard the major newspapers and TV outlets when they uncritically use Farrar/Slater. Possibly initiate a growing campaign against their active part in it all?

    And get everyone petitioning against any outlet that uses any of the ‘usual suspects’ for commentary or opinion in a way that allows them to pretend neutrality. (Note: I’m not saying they should be barred completely, just that they should be outed and made honest with regards their angle/interest)

    • Tom Jackson 5.1

      Whatever, I’m picking that the best way to end the shit is to bombard the major newspapers and TV outlets when they uncritically use Farrar/Slater. Possibly initiate a growing campaign against their active part in it all?

      Mockery is the best medicine.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 5.1.1

        Mockery is the best medicine.

        Nope, it only amuses the already converted, as the history of political satire amply demonstrates.

    • mickysavage 5.2

      Thanks Bill.

      I did not mean that we should fisk their posts continuously. I am not sure anyone would have the stamina …

      I am suggesting we should have a big rethink about things though. And I suspect you are right that TS would be better placed interacting with media rather than trying all the time to respond to Slater and Farrar.

      • BM 5.2.1

        How about some cat videos, they’re always amusing.

        Lol, Those crazy cats, what are they going to do next.

      • higherstandard 5.2.2

        TS is what it is, a little lefty site inhabited by trolls of the left and right who can spout mostly anonymous drivel.

      • Bill 5.2.3

        If more mainstream media were to interact with ‘ts’…or any other blog…they’d need to be supplied with a compelling reason to do so. Slater/Farrar provide a reason.

        The best ‘ts’ can aim for (bar, perhaps a very occasional post that would be exception proving the rule on mainstream interaction) is a sort of osmosis on the framing front.

        • mickysavage 5.2.3.1

          Agreed Bill. I think that the group think is an important function that on occasions works really well. It is a shame that some of the “go to” left commentators do not understand or want to give voice to this group think.

  6. Hot Potatoe 6

    This month’s bestseller in Germany called ‘Gekaufte Journalisten’ or ‘Bought Journalists’ in English uncovers the practice of journalists being paid money to distort particular news stories.

    #The book is now ranked seventh in the list of best sellers in Germany
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yp-Wh77wt1o#t=0

    The MSM in NZ have been accused of using bloggers/social medai networks to get their message across.

    The recent election was evidence enough, even I feel RNZ have morphed into the beast.

    Below: https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/bought-journalism-in-germany/

    This month’s bestseller in Germany called ‘Gekaufte Journalisten’ or ‘Bought Journalists’ in English uncovers the practice of journalists being paid money to distort particular news stories.

    #The book is now ranked seventh in the list of best sellers in Germany

    Talks of bribery, spies and cover-ups could easily be mistaken for a script from a Bourne movie. According to the book’s author, ex-journalist Udo Ulfkotte, journalists can be bought to put a specific twist on news stories.

    Druing Ulfkotte time working for a major German newspaper, explains how the United States intelligence service paid him to report a particular story in a certain light.

    other links here:

    German Journalist Describes How He and
    his Colleagues Were Controlled by Bribery by the CIA to
    Write US Propaganda, Instead of Actual News

    ForbiddenKnowledgeTV
    Alexandra Bruce
    October 8, 2014

    On October 1, I sent a short clip from this interview of German journalist, Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, author of the bestselling book in Germany, ‘Bought Journalism.’

    In the book, he describes how he and his colleagues were controlled through bribery by the CIA to write US propaganda, instead of reporting the actual news, throughout his 25+ year career, as a leading journalist in Germany, which he describes as “still a [postwar] colony of the USA.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yp-Wh77wt1o#t=0

    • Hot Potatoe 6.1

      Note the MSM in NZ have not been referenced in the ‘Gekaufte Journalisten’ or ‘Bought Journalists’. Thought that should be clarified

      Just thought I should make that clear.

      The video makes you think though

    • RedLogix 6.2

      What we get in this country is journalists who are keenly aware on whom their continued salary depends on.

  7. Ad 7

    None of what I suggest below should imply criticism of any author, editor, or of Saint Lyn the All Seeing.

    But we are now in a competitive situation with Whaleoil and Kiwiblog.

    1. We need to go professional. That means full time staff. More advertising (not too much of the Karl’s Jr owners perhaps).

    2. We could do with more people who are prepared to comment onto tv and radio. We are immensely powerful in numbers, and the MSM needs to see that we are essentially a very powerful newspaper.

    3. We could do with some fundraiser events. To protect anonymity we will probably need a masked ball 😉 and a double-blind trust.

    4. We can be the beta test-bed of an alternative government. We can do that if regular posts are made by Labour, Green, and Nw Zealand First MPs. Moderated, but MPs present to make comments. We are undersold outside of Labour.

    5. We can link with other sites more powerfully. Eg next time some party does a transport policy, give it to TransportBlog and The Standard and Scoop well before the MSM. Let us break and shape how polity lands in real time and before the MSM gets it.

    Hmm I’ll stop now.

    But Mickey you are so right.
    I’ve been calling for it for a while, but it depends if there is a will to go bigger, or more a preference to stay about the same scale and effect as currently.

    • Aaron 7.1

      This:

      5. We can link with other sites more powerfully. Eg next time some party does a transport policy, give it to TransportBlog and The Standard and Scoop well before the MSM. Let us break and shape how polity lands in real time and before the MSM gets it.

      Shaping the narrative in this way and giving the MSM a few ready made angles can be done for free starting tomorrow. No need to fundraise, no need to re-envision the website. In fact I would hope savvy individuals are already using these blogs in this way when they want some left wing support.

  8. Ad 8

    We can mock the cat videos or whatever just so Whaleoil can trumpet his triumph as supreme site. But Whaleoil really does reign supreme.

    I am not suggesting that we turn this beautiful Citroen into a Toyota Corolla, but at the moment it’s walls of text, no videos, full of unattractive arguments, and can be as appealing as waking up to WeetBix every morning. Without milk. Or sugar. As the Four Yorkshiremen said.

    Hate to say it, but we are a major media outlet, and if we aspire to be more than our own little beltway, we need to respect that in the media, numbers reign supreme over all.

    • BM 8.1

      Which is why Slater puts up cartoons, videos, maps etc.

      Who the fuck wants to read about politics all day, you’ve got to have a bit of variety if you want to attract people, especially the people who aren’t that politically aware or have just started to show an interest in politics.

      As much as people hate the man, Cameron Slater has done a superb job in introducing people to politics.

      He’s one of Nationals best recruitment tools.

      • higherstandard 8.1.1

        Perhaps TS should have a daily Eve video show ?

        • BM 8.1.1.1

          Eve TV, sounds like a winner to me.

          Wall to wall flames, shape shifting reptiles and collapsing buildings, the punters will love it.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1.2

        Are you deliberately missing the point? Slater and Farrar’s death-threat factories are not the problem: they are the sewer pipes through which the problem flows, from the National Party to the media.

  9. Te Reo Putake 9

    I can recall thinking at the time Key was lying about the left having their own equivalent of WO that it was a shame we didn’t. But, then, it’s not in our nature, is it? I support Ad’s second point above, we need to have a media presence. Clearly the msm aren’t going to go to Bomber for pieces to camera, so we should look to find an alternative from the left blogosphere. If we don’t do it, then the go to spokespeople for the left are either vacuous and out of touch (Pagani) or sectarian and out of touch (Bryce Edwards).

    Thanks for putting this out there, MS. It’s a discussion well worth having.

    • RedLogix 9.1

      MS’s most important point is the second to last sentence:

      An enhanced blog presence with sufficient resources to allow for some research may be the solution because clearly currently there is a severe resource imbalance.

      Funding of course comes with it’s own strings – but we need an angel who can put up sufficient seed money to get TS to the point where it generates it’s own endogenous income.

      Those of us who can afford to support TS financially need to think about putting money where keyboard is.

  10. Once was Pete 10

    Well I for one would support the more rational approach, but the post is a little lopsided in its treatment of The Standard vs Whaleoil. I read Whaleoil, but I don’t particularly like the site. I read The Standard, more and would have to say that this site also falls a long way short.
    Apart form the number of posts re Cunliffe v Key (and I will take your word for this), there is very little to distinguish either the standard or whaleoil. Both are overly negative, use derogatory terms without cause and both ooze anger and vitriol.
    Both are also extremely one eyed, and neither can find a single good thing to say about their target.
    Many commenters here fall back on anger and invective rather than discussing the substance of matters.
    Most voters are just sick of this. I do not believe most voters see themselves as left or right any more. On some things they will be conservative and on others they will be liberal. In other words they are more interested in issues and where the parties stand on them. This is my big criticism of Labour – stuck in a time warp and forever looking backward.
    People bang on here about the nasty RWNJ’s but you only have to read the regulars here to see that there are just as many nasty people who comment on this blog on a daily basis.
    The moderators could help with this by being more even handed in their supervision of protocols, but then it is your blog not mine,

    • RedLogix 10.1

      This is my big criticism of Labour – stuck in a time warp and forever looking backward.

      So the future is what? More Business as Usual? More raping the planet so a tiny few can be even further enriched? Do you have any alternative vision?

      Or are you just too young to remember that before neo-liberalism there was a different ethic in play?

      Otherwise thank you for your concern.

    • Draco T Bastard 10.2

      Both are also extremely one eyed, and neither can find a single good thing to say about their target.

      Bollocks. There are posts and comments saying nice things about Key on this blog when he does something right. We don’t see a lot because Key just doesn’t do a lot right.

      Many commenters here fall back on anger and invective rather than discussing the substance of matters.

      Pointless abuse around here gets you banned.

      In other words they are more interested in issues and where the parties stand on them.

      If that were so why aren’t they all voting Greens?

      This is my big criticism of Labour – stuck in a time warp and forever looking backward.

      It’s the RWNJs that are still building roads despite knowing a) that there just isn’t enough cheap oil to run the economy the way it was in the 1950s and b) that continuing to run the economy as if it was still the 1950s will cause catastrophic climate change.

  11. Adrian Jumping the Rawshark 11

    You vaguely pondered Mickey on what sort of effect WO et al had had on the election result. I think the answer is in the Specials, presuming that the majority ( overseas etc ) were not influenced to the degree locals were by WO et al and the MSM, the outcome would have been about 55% leftish to 45% right.

    • alwyn 11.1

      Why would you make the assumption that people overseas are likely to be less influenced than people in New Zealand?
      WO is purely a website and can just as readily be read overseas as in New Zealand.
      The TV channels material is available on-line from overseas but you need at least a reasonable broadband connection to watch them. I’ve tried occasionally but often the bandwidth available (WiFi say) isn’t good enough to get a clear report. People overseas are more likely to have read websites or the hardcopy newspaper sites and are not likely to have seen things like the rather strident, over-bearing persona that Cunliffe displayed on TV.

      • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1

        He said WO et al which would include the negative campaigning that the MSM did for National.

      • Murray Rawshark 11.1.2

        What strident, overbearing persona? I watched quite a few clips with Cunliffe and never saw anything like that.
        What I did see was a prumstah of noozland who acts like a smug 14 year old class clown and is unable to say anything of substance.
        What people overseas miss out on is the continual radio and television cheerleading for the NAct party. Depending on where they live, they might also see where NAct type policies lead.

        PS Please ignore me as you promised. I’m not seeking another load of Key propaganda as a reply.

        • alwyn 11.1.2.1

          Oh, you are one of those people who post under multiple names are you?
          Pray tell us how many others you use in addition to the two I now know about?

  12. Hot Potatoe 12

    Once was Pete,

    I like your comments, particularly,

    “Many commenters here fall back on anger and invective rather than discussing the substance of matters”

    However, do you think that the Party in Power advocates for dirty politics.

    What chance doth the unarmed prophet have against armed prophet except sticks & stones?

    But I take your point, if we spent time in analyzing the issues objectively discourse would be better. However, that means both sides have to play.

    All the best

    If you want to see the power imbalance just watch this vid

    This month’s bestseller in Germany called ‘Gekaufte Journalisten’ or ‘Bought Journalists’ in English uncovers the practice of journalists being paid money to distort particular news stories.

    #The book is now ranked seventh in the list of best sellers in Germany

    Talks of bribery, spies and cover-ups could easily be mistaken for a script from a Bourne movie. According to the book’s author, ex-journalist Udo Ulfkotte, journalists can be bought to put a specific twist on news stories.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yp-Wh77wt1o#t=0

  13. Tautoko Mangō Mata 13

    One of my favourite websites is Common Dreams which has this explanation in the About Us page.

    “Common Dreams is a non-profit independent newscenter created in 1997 as a new media model. By relying on our readers and tens of thousands of small donations to keep us moving forward — with no advertising, corporate underwriting or government funding — Common Dreams maintains an editorial independence our readers can count on.

    We are optimists. We believe real change is possible. But only if enough well-informed, well intentioned — and just plain fed up and fired-up — people demand it. We believe that together we can attain our common dreams.
    What we value.

    We share our readers’ progressive values of social justice, human rights, equality and peace. Common Dreams is committed to not only being your trusted news source, but to encouraging critical thinking and civic action on a diverse range of social, economic, and civil rights issues affecting individuals and their communities.”

    I don’t know whether we are large enough to financially support a similar model to Common Dreams in NZ. The Standard is more of a forum for discussion. We do need to do something, however. The fact that the Herald has had a couple of decent articles in the last couple of days just gives us the sense of what it would be like if our media dealt with the issues in a fair and reasonable way. However I am cynical of the chance of this continuing when I consider the disgraceful biased articles written over the last few years.

  14. Once was Pete 14

    Red Logix above. Your response is a fine illustration of the comments I was making. Firstly, I am nearly 70, and that means I have probably voted Labour more times than 90% of the people on this site.
    Second, what does raping the planet have to do with anything I said above? Nothing. But instead of discussing you fall back on tired old scare mongering. If you don’t like what is said lets find something bad to say about the person who said it. I didn’t share any of my overall views because this wasn’t the place or the post for it. This was about how we conduct ourselves on social media.
    Your nappreciation is noted, and you are welcome.

    • RedLogix 14.1

      So you are old enough to recall life before Rogernomics.

      Yes the good old days were not always so very good – but my view is that life is a balance of personal self-interest and social good. And that 35 years of neo-liberal madness has tilted the balance away from the latter – towards the former.

      And that if wanting to restore that balance looks like “stuck in a time warp and forever looking backward” to you – then I have no answer for you.

      Besides I note you present no alternative vision. Without which you will just get more of the same – call that scaremongering if you wish.

  15. Clemgeopin 15

    @mickysavage
    In the last paragraph did you mean Nicky Hager’s or Cameron slater’s, in this sentence:

    ‘ I believe the Standard has an important role to play but the effectiveness of Nicky Hager’s particular form of journalism is impossible to ignore.

    • mickysavage 15.1

      Hi Clemgeopin. I was referring to Hager. TS is good for comment and framing but does not have the investigative resources or ability that Hager has. It would be a very helpful addition.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 15.1.1

        What would it require?

        1. A tipline 😈
        2. The time and resources to diligently verify information received.
        3. The resources to withstand inevitable legal challenges from the usual suspects.

  16. Once was Pete 16

    Hot Potatoe above. Actually, to a certain extent I think all parties in power are excessive to a greater or lesser extent. I think that is a cricism that couls be levelled at the last term Clarke Clark government equally as well as the current one. I don’t like either.
    But thanks for your comment – that is the sort of dialogue that is meaningful. As an aside there are other blogs out there that express a wide range of views and where the commenters are a whole lot more rational than at WO or TS. But like it or not these two are the heavy hitters in terms of readership on each side.
    Cheers.

    [lprent: There are various traps for misspellings of peoples names. I use them as traps for trolls. ]

  17. wonderpup 17

    Do we want to just create a slightly glossier echo-chamber? One of the problems of being on the left is that you generally take things a tad more seriously than the right. When empathy leaves the room, you can have all sorts of fun that those that take things like poverty seriously can’t. Humour, as John Cleese said, is about bad things happening to people: you can make a funny movie about St Francis of Assisi, but a bird would have to shit on him.

    I think there is a role for a left media source, and it isn’t the Daily Blog. Or the Standard. Both of these are great things, and I even turn my ad-block off for them. I wish I had the answer.

  18. SHG 18

    The only thing we can be assured of is that whatever it is the progressive users of social media do, Clare Curran will publicly criticise them and demand that they stop.

  19. Pawsharkial 19

    WO is a wall to wall fraud, with actual visitor numbers under 15000/ day:

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/17/are-whaleoils-traffic-stats-a-bloated-illusion/#!prettyPhoto

    If TS wanted to play the same game of paying a botnet to inflate the visitor numbers, then all that would achieve would be to cost more server time. The artificially boosted numbers that ensure WOBH’s top ranking in political blog traffic are not what lets Slater &co implant stories in the MSM. It is the complicity of the media that allows this to happen.

    Cat videos are not going to help the site’s mission of being being the voice of the NZ labour movement. We should concentrate on what we do well and not let the disingenuous deflect us.

    • SHG 19.1

      The Dailyblog repost of Dimpost’s stats doesn’t prove anything. The conclusion is “when Whaleoil refers to me in a post not as many people visit my site as when Kiwiblog refers to me”. Says nothing about Whaleoil’s traffic volume.

  20. RedBaronCV 20

    Good Thinking MS
    Well if we can’t get rid of Key then we need him doing what suits us?
    So what do we know
    – there is a level of response from the RW to the social media – the malayasian diplomat row ( sometimes I think the pressure needs to be kept on – roastbusters so it doesn’t slide)
    -sometimes I get the feeling that MSM reads sites like this and picks up on facts that they use to follow up the story and the the story shuts off.
    – comments on many MSM stories counter the main spin but that is only online. This isn’t organised by the left so we can rely on a degree of crowd sourcing. So much so that none of the Hager stories that I saw could be commented on. (Wreck the server country I suspect)

    – the focus groups matter – read the tea leaves but JK going on about “how they would not be arrogant” implies focus group concern that they may. Now he won’t do anything different but a site like this could put up tea leaf insight posting of the week so that the crowd can form around that as they blog.
    – items get dropped if focus groups don’t care – the flag debate for the election died pretty quickly. Again solid social media trashing contrasting this to poverty did the trick.
    – look at some way of grouping the left media better. There is plenty of good commentary out there. A link is never as powerful as a teaser so use the RSS feeds with greater ordering. Some people like me go through and open every item of interest and then sit down and read the lot.

    -Play then at their own game.
    Mount a crowd takeover bid. Later this year APN wants to float 60% of the herald and other bits and pieces. A lot of these shares will go to pension funds and the like but tactical buying of small parcels by left inclined individuals ( disclaimer this is not investment advice as I am not suggesting that anyone will make money out of this) gives a bunch of shareholders who can file motions that have to go to the stock exchange and make waves about poor performance, salary caps etc. Serious individual shareholders don’t like this much as it pushes price down but oddly enough pension funds may not be so negative. Maybe we can get at least part of the MSM responding to a wider range of public views which over time may bring up readers, profits and maybe it could be a giveaway.

    Dribble driiblle…

  21. Ron 21

    Seems to me if we want to rethink social media a good place would be to encourage Labour to improve its use of Social Media. The use of such media over the last year has been dismal compared with say the Greens.
    There are no doubt many Labour people that could do a better job of managing the media than whoever is currently managing it. Have a look at Red Alert last posting was Darien in July.

  22. The Lone Haranguer 22

    285,000 folk a month read WO?

    Thats a massive amount of people, and the few times I have been there, the whole deal just seemed to be trash.

    So perhaps the bigger question for the Left, is how/why does that site get so much traffic when theirs dont get those sorts of numbers?

    Is it because:
    The Right all congregate pretty much in one space (sort of like the Nats)
    The Left arent very collegial so everyone has their own blog (sort of like how it takes 4 leftish parties to equal the Nat party vote numbers)

    • “..The Left arent very collegial..”

      i’m going with that ‘b’-answer..

      ..i am..in fact..astounded by just how un-‘collegial’ the left are..

      ..with examples far too many to cite..

      ..no outside forces need to divide and rule them..

      ..they do it to/for themselves..

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    15 mins ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 hours ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    10 hours ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    14 hours ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    14 hours ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    16 hours ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    16 hours ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    17 hours ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    17 hours ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    19 hours ago
  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago
  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    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 ...
    1 day ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    2 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    2 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    2 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    3 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    3 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    4 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    6 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    6 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    7 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    7 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-06T17:30:05+00:00