RIP KGD ONZ

Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, September 15th, 2022 - 47 comments
Categories: Unions, workers' rights - Tags:

Ken Douglas was a big man, in every sense of the word, and a great man, deeply involved in his community right through his life, from the Drivers’ Union to the Porirua City Council.

He was a thinker, a reader and a leader, fully engaged in some of the most important turning issues of our time. Strong support for Labour’s Fair Play legislation now is the best way to remember Ken.

In recent years he regularly attended the Fabian Society, always with a suggestion, a proposition, or an amusing anecdote. We will miss him.

47 comments on “RIP KGD ONZ ”

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  2. Anne 2
    15 September 2022 at 6:36 pm

    He warranted only a tiny item tucked in the top right hand corner of one of the middle pages of today's Herald. After all, he only championed the rights and needs of ordinary working people. Nothing to see there. (sarc)

    • James Thrace 2.1
      16 September 2022 at 8:50 am

      Correct me if I’m wrong but I understood that Douglas was a sell out at the time of the Employment Contracts Act 1991 in that he decided that the past of least resistance was the best choice, and that led to the destruction of working conditions. Much later, Bolger confirmed that if there was widespread pushback there was a softer version of the ECA ready to go. As far as I’m concerned, Douglas was a sellout and helped foster in the relative death of the union movement and the low wage economy.
      So no, I’m not sad to see Douglas gone.

      • Visubversa 2.1.1
        16 September 2022 at 9:35 am

        Is there a citation for that assertion James?

      • KJT 2.1.2
        16 September 2022 at 10:11 am

        I don't know if it was him, but the Trade Union leaders, which he was one at the time, pushed back strongly against the motions from the floor at many meetings, for a general strike against the ECA.

        Saying "Wait until it is in".

        I was at one, as were many people I know.

        After it was in, of course, the right to strike for matters outside of individual Union conditions at one employer, was gone. Too late!

        Always wondered if they were bought?

        • Craig H 2.1.2.1
          16 September 2022 at 4:29 pm

          I know from discussions with others about that time that one of the real concerns was that the government would just outlaw unions entirely, and possible deregister all of them and seize their assets (something Muldoon used to threaten for individual unions that annoyed him).

          • KJT 2.1.2.1.1
            17 September 2022 at 11:50 am

            That was more of a concern after the ECA, with provisions to sue personally, Union Organisers and organisers of strikes. Anyone advocating a general strike could be prosecuted.

            Which meant waiting until after the ECA was made law, was too late for concerted action. A very poor decision, if not a betrayal. At the meeting was at, those advocating for a general strike, which were most of the floor, were threatened and shouted down, by the Union bosses in the top table.

            After the ECA, for example, the person who organised our industrial action against Brierley stealing our company super, was threatened with personal prosecution, fines and siezure of his personal property..

            By the way, I will also never forgive some Unions and their members, who gave the Union movement a bad name, and the opponents of Unions, way too much ammunition.

            Muldoon, if memory serves me correctly, did deregister the Boilermakers, if not others.

  3. McFlock 3
    15 September 2022 at 7:24 pm

    I don't know much about him, and never met him.

    But he was about the first non-parliamentary NZ political type whose name I heard and remembered as I grew up. He always seemed to have something reasonable to say, and was usually on the morally-good side of any obvious line that was drawn on an issue.

    And people I knew (better people than me, politically and intellectually) would pause and have a think when they were reminded of his position on a matter. Regardless of whether they aligned with him afterwards, they'd have to have a think.

    He leaves big shoes to fill.

  4. Ad 4
    15 September 2022 at 8:21 pm

    I've only been to one full-on union funeral and it was utterly epic.

    Hope Ken gets an epic sendoff.

  5. Johnr 5
    15 September 2022 at 8:53 pm

    I have always thought that the difference tween nz and au wages and conditions is because au still has a functioning union movement.

    I would really like to know the real reason why Douglas sold the union movement out. It was certainly the beginning of the end for working people. Does the name Douglas have any relevance.

    In my eyes he was an utter disgrace to the wellbeing of working people and his passing should not be honored in any way.

    • Stuart Munro 5.1
      15 September 2022 at 10:08 pm

      I have often wondered whether Douglas was a Trojan horse, crooked from the off, or merely obliged to reconsider by the collapse of the despotic soviet regime, to which he might have given far too much credit for philosophical leadership. It does seem that Labour went astray pretty much as the soviet empire crumbled.

      • Tiger Mountain 5.1.1
        16 September 2022 at 7:43 am

        The venerable political enquiry–“do they go bad or were they always bad…”

        The formation of the NZCTU was one of the most significant class errors of the late 20th century. The NZCTU under Douglas, Foulkes, and the rest pursued Tri Partism, i.e. partnership with employers–“positive engagement” with the very people that wanted to destroy unionism–was never going to happen!

        As a site delegate and union exec member at the time I was a fence sitter–it felt wrong, but sounded good, uniting the private and public sector unions. A union organiser mate of mine was always against on the basis of “unity at all costs…costs the working class”.

        And so it has turned out.

        The natzos were expecting national industrial action and could not believe their luck when it did not happen. The NZ working class has suffered from that first flush of the union busting ECA ever since. Membership plummeted in months as employers put the pressure on and organisers were denied access to members. Productivity and wages seriously parted company from 1991 if you look at Treasury graphs.

        It was not all down to Douglas though–there were plenty of other vacillating tops in the state sector unions and more right wing private sector unions that backed him, despite their members marching against the ECA. Mr Douglas apparently said 80% of member support was required for national action in 1991. A leader does not stand placidly by and bemoan the support level, they get out there and organise and fight and build it.

        I was on 1990/91 “Kill the Bill–ECB” marches and rallies and at the special affiliates meeting in Wellington where the sell out was narrowly endorsed by Union Secretaries. Mike Jackson and Bill Andersen from my then Union, the NDU, voted for a national stoppage. The vote should have been taken at mass meetings of members.

        I had the pleasure at Jim Knox’s memorial service in Auckland, to see ’51 Waterfront Lockout leader Jock Barnes lambast Douglas in the most excoriating manner for his class collaborationist behaviour. Some of the NZ Labour people praising Ken Douglas yesterday, could not handle Jock’s honesty on that day.

        Whatever good Ken might have done in earlier days in the Wellington Drivers Union and so on, was negated by his turning from marxism to Blairism basically, which he never had the courtesy to inform his SUP colleagues of. If he made a quiet contribution on his local Council good on him, but he was on a number of commercial Boards too.

        NZ workers need a class left fighting central labour organisation like the old FOL, a place that will encourage todays new gen workers to continue getting organised and robustly take on the employing class. Srikes in Auckland packaging the last several weeks, a nasty 6 week lockout of pulp and paper workers, pickets at Sky City and Union legal action against Uber on driver status show the boss never sleeps, so neither can the working class.

        • Stuart Munro 5.1.1.1
          16 September 2022 at 8:13 am

          Interesting – I had a little union involvement myself, through the Dunedin Deepwater Fisherman's Association. Unions had been explicitly banned in the fishing industry under Muldoon's wretched piece of urgency legislation, the fishing Industry Union Coverage ACT (1979) which they passed in response to the dispute over unloading the German research vessel Wesermunde in Bluff. That act goes a long way to explain the poor wages and conditions in the industry over the years – at least until the QMS decimated it.

        • Patricia Bremner 5.1.1.2
          16 September 2022 at 9:48 am

          yes Thanks Tiger Mountain.

        • PsyclingLeft.Always 5.1.1.3
          16 September 2022 at 10:11 am

          Ok Tiger Mountain. I read your comments (on other things too) with Interest. Always good to get a perspective from someone who was there !

          On similar…do you have any thoughts on Rob Campbell? TBH…I could never understand this :

          From picket line anarchist in the 1970s to chair of SkyCity today

          https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/13-03-2021/the-rob-campbell-paradox-corporate-juggernaut-with-working-class-heart

          If can thanks..allgood if not.

          • Tiger Mountain 5.1.1.3.1
            16 September 2022 at 1:19 pm

            Rob was a charming, charismatic chap when I knew him in the late 70s to mid 80s. He was an academic that became a Researcher for the Wellington Drivers union for a bit and got attracted to the excitement of the working class cause–when Muldoon was at his peak (pique).

            He was part of the progressive “team” back then, commos and all, and was instrumental in the Distribution Workers Federation, an early attempt to unite logistics and retail workers nationally. A significant march or rally usually had Rob up in the front row in his leather jacket.

            Always remember attending a performance of Renee’s play on the ’51 Waterfront Lockout called “Pass it on” with Rob and Bill Andersen. At half time in the bar Rob said “I think they should go back to work” and I always thought he half meant it.

            He gave years of service to the union movement including negotiating key agreements etc. He did get frustrated with provincial unionists that were not into modern issues apart from battling the boss, but I really think it was his nasty run in with cancer that caused a personal reassessment of his life priorities. He chose to leave and enter the business world. He was seen around Devonport in an old Valiant and a bulging bank balance no doubt.

            Middle class people and Academics are well known in the working class movement for vacillating when the heat goes on, but Rob was just doing his own thing in my estimation. He has tried to make a comeback as various media pieces outline.

      • Tiger Mountain 5.1.2
        16 September 2022 at 7:58 am

        KGD was a big supporter of the ANZAC Frigate plan in 1988, which basically drove a great big old wedge into existing regional splits in the NZ Socialist Unity Party and hastened its demise.

        When the NZSUP was formally wound up there was a few grand ($40,000) left over which according to my two sources–a party member and a Wellington academic–was donated to NZ Labour.

        Does not answer your point Stuart conclusively but…

  6. Tom Hunter 6
    16 September 2022 at 9:39 am

    Hmmm, John Minto says, Not a single fighting bone in his body when it was needed the most

    I know there will be some who say we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead and try to salvage something positive from his union work. Don’t bother. His betrayal of workers in 1991 was so dramatic and so stark that it eclipses anything else he ever did.

    Seems a bit harsh.

  7. Patricia Bremner 7
    16 September 2022 at 9:56 am

    He and Bill Birch did huge harm to Worker's hard fought for Rights.

    • Mike Smith 7.1
      16 September 2022 at 2:32 pm

      It is a real pity that Ken Douglas’ life and contribution is reduced by some to a one-day caricature.

      Workers’ rights in New Zealand have always depended on the favour of the law, dating back to the 1894 arbitration and conciliation legislation. Ken Douglas was very aware of the fragility of unions in terms of being able to provide the widespread industrial and political organisation and action that would be needed for a general strike.

      I was working for the Engineers Union and a member of the Clerical Union when it went on strike in the 1980s, and the only people who took action were the union officials! The employers refused to bargain and Douglas and Rex Jones had to bail them out.

      He worked tirelessly in the 1980s to prepare unions for what he and others saw coming with a change in government. But he did not believe in pyrrhic victories, hence his call for 80% support in 1992 as referenced by others above. It wasn’t there.

      He wasn’t perfect but he packed a huge amount into a life working for the betterment of others, taking on some massive challenges along the way.

      • Visubversa 7.1.1
        16 September 2022 at 3:05 pm

        You are quite right Mike. I was in the room at that CTU meeting – not representing a union but with another hat. There was not the widespread support needed for a general strike. Nobody "sold out" – everybody in that room wanted to do the best for the working people they represented – and that is what they tried hard to do. They had all been out canvassing their membership and they reported back what they found.

      • Tiger Mountain 7.1.2
        16 September 2022 at 3:37 pm

        Your views are rather naive Mike. For example in South Auckland in the 70s and 80s strike action was a regular thing and many worksites, Engineers, Storeworkers and various other union members had a virtually permanent collection and donation regime going. Working class solidarity. Union strength delivered millions to families over many years via achieving and enforcing good agreements and conditions.

        Everyone has their personal favourites, those they hit it off with and those they do not, and fair enough, but lets be honest, most of KGD’s fans were South of the Waikato. I observed Ken close up at SUP party schools, internal meetings and in social settings and in repose, and in big meetings. He was a loud and blunt guy in style.

        Yes, he came up with plans for consolidating hundreds of small unions into 20 or so industry unions etc. which is still not a bad idea. Two would be good actually–Public and Private sectors. But promoting Tripartism in the peak neo lib 90s was a disastrous strategy, NZ employers wanted nothing less than the total de-recognition of unions which the ECA provided. We had to get the bloody ILO over here to do a special report on how bad it was.

        Be honest–he went from public communist to right social democrat, without informing the membership at large of the Socialist Unity Party while he was still in the party.

        • Mike Smith 7.1.2.1
          17 September 2022 at 2:50 pm

          @ Tiger Mountain 7.1.2

          Naive am I? Possibly, but those strikes you mention in the 1970s and 1980s were only possible because the law allowed them. I was invited by Canadian Labour Council officials in the early 1990s to visit precisely to warn them of what happens when the law is changed so that employers are not required by law to negotiate. Unions then need strong powerful and widespread organisation, something not all recognised or realised.

      • swordfish 7.1.3
        16 September 2022 at 3:42 pm

        yes Well said.

        Just to repeat my comment a day or two ago:

        Ken spent a great deal of his life fighting for the interests of working people in New Zealand, he was a leading figure in New Zealand industrial politics of the 70s & 80s … at the local level, he lived his politics by playing a central role in building the Titahi Bay community in which I grew up … in particular, a key figure in local rugby, golf, surf-lifesaving & rowing … and, of course, a local city councillor for several terms in later life.

        May well attend Ken’s funeral on Monday.

        • Tiger Mountain 7.1.3.1
          16 September 2022 at 4:05 pm

          Good for you swordfish. It is fine to point out the good and ordinary stuff that well known people do. Ken’s colleague Bill Andersen, a friend, was similarly involved with Auck. City Newton Rugby League Club and many other community organisations.

      • Darien Fenton 7.1.4
        17 September 2022 at 4:48 am

        Totally agree Mike. This idea that a few days of action would have stopped the ECA and Bolger had a softer version ready to go is just nonsense. We would have to shut the country down for weeks to have any effect, and I don’t recall that being considered. National was the government. Bill Birch and the Employers Fed had the ECA ready to go when they were elected in 1990. There was a huge promise from National to their boss masters. Even if there was a "softer" version do people seriously think it would have been acceptable? The ideology of moving from compulsory unionism and national awards to individual contracts would not have changed because of the promise to the bosses and the National's election win. Blaming Ken Douglas for there not being a strike gets so tiresome. The CTU is made up of unions with their own rules and independence. Ken could never order a strike. My union supported a strike ; many other unions' leaders didn't because of the question around legal consequences (for one thing). I marched and I protested. And of course every worker paid the price for the ECA, but blaming Ken Douglas for a political hit job from Jim Bolger's government is shallow. The other question that is hardly ever considered is how the strength of the then union movement was based on compulsory unionism and state based awards. Both of these would have gone in any "softer version". We forgot how to organise and we've had to relearn that.

  8. Corey Humm 8
    16 September 2022 at 3:11 pm

    He seemed like a nice enough guy

    However he and his peers cannot be forgiven for refusing to push back on the annihilation of workers rights and unionization in NZ by the Bolger government. It's utterly shameful. The one time the unions NEEDED to fight they didn't.

    They are directly responsible for the drop in living standards and wages and workers rights.

    Australias living standards are so much higher due to the unions of Australia, who are still powerful and fight like hell.

    Nz unions are as meek as mice and too often side with employers.

    This man and his peers are directly responsible for gen x, gen y and gen z having lower living standards than previous generations.

    I'm sure he was a great man, I'm sure most of the union leaders of the time were great people, but great people screw up and boy did they screw up.

    • Tiger Mountain 8.1
      16 September 2022 at 3:47 pm

      What hat was that may we ask? I have been up front about my involvement as a supporter of a National Strike when an NDU Executive Member.

      Thousands of union members and supporters were on the streets in 1990/91 opposing the Employment Contracts Bill. Including Engineers Union, PSA and other State Sector unions and associations. Decisive positive leadership is what was lacking to defeat the Bill.

    • Craig H 8.2
      16 September 2022 at 4:38 pm

      Muldoon used to threaten to outlaw unions that annoyed him, and one concern of the time was that the government would just outlaw unions entirely, and potentially seize their assets while they were at it.

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 8.2.1
        16 September 2022 at 4:47 pm

        I have sometimes thought,reading about…and comments here on the Standard… was Muldoon the closest we got to a fascist leader ?

        • Stuart Munro 8.2.1.1
          17 September 2022 at 5:44 am

          He's a curious fellow, certainly he had the style of a dictator, but he had a better understanding of economics that any Gnat since. Moreover, he genuinely wanted NZ to uplift or develop – too many of his successors only want to sell off the pieces.

          • PsyclingLeft.Always 8.2.1.1.1
            17 September 2022 at 7:38 am

            Stuart Munro, yep Muldoon….Ive read a bit about him..and a strangely conflicted character for sure.
            (Drove him to drink….if not madness)

            Went to Italy WW2, fought against Musso….and came back thinking HE could get the trains running on time. All he had to do was….a LOT of bad things. But the trains !

        • hetzer 8.2.1.2
          17 September 2022 at 3:58 pm

          Hmm well he had the folksy community, common man, socialist views of the Fascist, but not the green and nationalism and race views of the Fascist.

          • PsyclingLeft.Always 8.2.1.2.1
            17 September 2022 at 5:29 pm

            lol..wtf are you on… about?

            • hetzer 8.2.1.2.1.1
              17 September 2022 at 8:21 pm

              You posed the question about Muldoon possibly being our first Fascist leader. I replied with some thoughts on what he shared that philosophy and what he did not. Comprehension an issue?

              • PsyclingLeft.Always …
                17 September 2022 at 10:57 pm

                AH.."green", "socialist" =fascist.. I comprehend. You're a troll.

                Fuck. Off.

                • CrimzonGhost …
                  24 September 2022 at 9:46 am

                  Fascist/Nazi

                  =Nationalist Socialist

                  Green "Blood & Soil" …Vegetarianism/Veganism …many leaders were.

                  Italian Fascists & Fellow traveler Falangists in Spain, France, Lebanon etc weren't necessarily racist as for example in Spain they included Moroccans and Algerians and even Jews had a Falangist/Fascist organisation. Mssolini believed that it didn't matter whether Jew, Greek, Albanian in Italy etc as long as you served the collective Nation loyally.

                  Hetzer's not a troll, you're just a bit dumb.

                  • hetzer …
                    24 September 2022 at 10:33 am

                    Thank you Crimzon. I was going to reply to him, but its not my interest to teach him history, or that the abomination that was 30's Fascism was also the greenest of political philosophies.

  9. swordfish 9
    17 September 2022 at 4:13 pm

    .

    Several media outlets over recent days have referred to Ken Douglas as 'Red Ken' … as if that were his widely-used nickname … but, like Karl du Fresne, I can't ever remember anyone in the media or elsewhere (even Muldoon) calling him that in the 70s or 80s.

    Could be wrong … it was a long time ago … but …

    Have journos managed to get the man mixed up with former London Mayor 'Red' Ken Livingstone ?

  10. Sanctuary 10
    19 September 2022 at 7:59 am

    The bottom line is we'll never know how a fight with Bolger's government would have panned out. Maybe it would have resulted an unlikely victory to rank with the Russia’s defeat at Kyiv. Or a defeat as abject as Scargill's miners. But the thing is "Red" Ken, and all his bombastic SUP mates who strutted around those days loudly calling each other comrade turned out to be stuffed shirts and defeatists who took counsel of their fears. History will record they were rewarded for taking the King's shilling with comfy sinecures and gongs.

    I am reading a lot of excuse making for Douglas here. Recollections of doubt, post facto self-justication manifested as scorn by insiders – the savvy "realists" in this drama – and people who only ever talk of their weaknesses. It seems to me to amount to a meta of a complete failure of leadership when it counted. An airline pilot can fly his aeroplane for thirty plus years with a stellar record of consciencious flying in service of his employer, but his career will only be assessed on the airmanship displayed during that fifty minutes he landed his damaged aircraft and saved 350 lives.

    Ken Douglas was the guy at the controls when the crisis struck, and he displayed awful airmanship and he crashed the aircraft. The rest counts for nothing.

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    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    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, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    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
    14 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

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