The biggest fraud

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, December 8th, 2011 - 99 comments
Categories: capitalism, crime - Tags: ,

In its final days, South Canterbury Finance quietly loaned $300m to related-parties. Breach of the deposit guarantee scheme’s rules. Nats did nothing. When SCF collapsed the related parties got off scot-free – if they owned SCF bonds, the Nats even paid them $350m voluntarily. Now, the Serious Fraud Office has laid the biggest fraud charges in history over SCF. What’s the bet it’s over those related-party loans and bonds? And where’s our fucken money?

And what’s with this rash of bad news for the government about stuff that happened months or years ago coming out days after the election? A suspicious person might think that government agencies had been holding back bad news.

99 comments on “The biggest fraud ”

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  1. Jackal 1
    8 December 2011 at 8:32 am

    It certainly looks pretty bad. More cuts to DOC, mining conservation land, idiotic changes to the education system, the list just goes on and on.

    • pollywog 1.1
      8 December 2011 at 9:05 am

      …especially as theres no mandate for it given they didn’t campaign on those issues.

      but on point i can just imagine Key and English pleading ignorance on just how close to the edge SCF were to toppling before they re signed them for the retail deposit guarantee scheme but saw an opprtunity to game the system for a select few of their mates and rellies so let it slide.

      Comes down to cherry picking treasury advice again.

      Treasury predicted SCF’s failure early on

      In a report dated March 8, Treasury estimated “it is probable that SCF will default under the existing Crown Guarantee in or around June 2010.”

      It was then estimating such a default would cost the government nearly $700 million, including interest.

      http://www.goodreturns.co.nz/article/976498105/treasury-predicted-scf-s-failure-early-on.html

      i mean, just check the date and tell me they weren’t taking the piss…

      SCF Approved For Extended Retail Deposit Guarantee

      1 April 2010

      Crown approves South Canterbury Finance for Extended Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme

      South Canterbury Finance Limited has today been approved to participate in the Crown’s Extended Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme.

      The scheme will provide all eligible investors with the benefit of the Crown guarantee until 31 December 2011.

  2. vto 2
    8 December 2011 at 8:48 am

    If another election were held this weekend I suspect this extremist government would be well turfed out.

    The great fraud here is yet to emerge and that is the fraud committed by English and Key when they said they were told on their first day in office in 2008 that they knew SCF was going to fail and yet did nothing to protect the taxpayer and everything to protect their vote.

    • marsman 2.1
      8 December 2011 at 9:51 am

      Bill English re-signed SCF into the guarantee scheme on his first day in office. When he paid the investors he paid them interest as well. There has to be a full inquiry and if English and Key are culpable lock them up.

    • Peter 2.2
      8 December 2011 at 11:23 am

      If an election were held this week nothing would have changed. The Key party can do what it likes until someone comes along and explains their lies and half truths in a way that gets people to change their vote. The only hope I suspect is Winston!

      • burt 2.2.1
        8 December 2011 at 12:37 pm

        Yes – because Winston can speak with so much authority about lies.

        • mik e 2.2.1.1
          8 December 2011 at 7:02 pm

          Burt 100.000 in electoral funding when bigger parties hide much bigger amounts and here we are talking $1.7 billion wine box enquiry ended up with banks having to pay hundreds of millions back in tax avoidance.Politicians lie some tell much bigger lies or in the
          Double Dipping Dipstick Case He avoiding Lying by saying Nothing.Politics 101

    • the pink postman 2.3
      8 December 2011 at 3:25 pm

      Im not one to say “I told you so ” however when this scandal was first revealed I said that the late Hubbard was the biggest conman ever in Aotearoa. Got a bit off an earbashing over that. Two things puzzle me.
      When the late Hubbard stated, when the story broke , “IF Mr Key had been in the country this would never have happened .Once in the Herald then lost.Is there anyone out there who can investigate this.
      Secondly where did all that money go too? Both Hubbards were involved in the Church does that alert anyone other than me.

  3. Colonial Viper 3
    8 December 2011 at 9:48 am

    The fact that so much shit was known about privately and loaded into the pipes, and the Key government manipulated media and press releases so that it is all coming out after the election is simply dirty and undemocratic. How is this not unlike the recent vote stuffing Russian elections???

    And of course the corporate compliant MSM suck all the shit up that Key delivers on a silver platter.

    Having said that, around Christmas is exactly the time Governments love to release the dirt to bury it.

  4. Scott 4
    8 December 2011 at 9:50 am

    Wanna bet no one goes to jail or gets penalized in anyway for this?
    “One guy with a briefcase can steal more money than 100 guys with guns”

    • Colonial Viper 4.1
      8 December 2011 at 10:06 am

      “If you want to rob a bank, get a gun. If you want to rob the world, get a bank.”

      • felix 4.1.1
        8 December 2011 at 10:54 am

        Or as Bob said, “Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you a king”

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1
          8 December 2011 at 10:59 am

          Well in the UK Cameron will definitely give you a knighthood for ‘services rendered’.

      • Lanthanide 4.1.2
        8 December 2011 at 11:01 am

        “Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.”

  5. dv 5
    8 December 2011 at 9:59 am

    How long will it be before the case hits the courts?

    Be interesting if it is in 2013

    Am I right that this the first against SFC, the other cases were against the Hubbards. and Aorangi

  6. King Kong 6
    8 December 2011 at 10:07 am

    There are people in the Treasury who should do time for this as well.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 6.1
      8 December 2011 at 10:40 am

      The documents will have been ‘cleansed’ from the files by now.

      • Carol 6.1.1
        8 December 2011 at 10:50 am

        According to Cunliffe there is evidence (maybe circumstantial?) that some of the fault lies with Treasury:

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6106690/Government-stumbled-over-SCF-Labour

        “It may have been bordering on insolvency as early as 2009 and given that risk, the Government should have applied greater rigor to its investigation and decisions.”

        The charges also showed Treasury, which was criticised this year by the Auditor-General for failing to protect taxpayers from liabilities inherent in the scheme, had not been as thorough as the SFO, Cunliffe said.

        “It looks like Treasury had just not investigated anything like the same level of detail as the SFO.”

        But this may be due more to negligence than outright fraud.

        • Lanthanide 6.1.1.1
          8 December 2011 at 11:03 am

          “But this may be due more to negligence than outright fraud.”

          Unless the treasury staff had their own money invested in SCF.

          Turns out my uncle had a rather large deposit there because he knew he’d be bailed out. I wouldn’t put it past treasury staff to do the same.

        • Colonial Viper 6.1.1.2
          8 December 2011 at 11:05 am

          Negligence costing hundreds of millions = Asses fired, starting at the top. Who was the Minister in charge of Treasury at that time?

          Oh yeah, English.

          • King Kong 6.1.1.2.1
            8 December 2011 at 11:09 am

            Can’t disagree with you CV.

            English should be [deleted]. Though if we are being fair then Cullen deserves [deleted].

            [Right – from now on calls for anyone to be shot, or other forms of violence, get a one week ban if I see them. Second offence a one year ban. r0b]

            • Colonial Viper 6.1.1.2.1.1
              8 December 2011 at 11:11 am

              Not needed mate.

            • Huginn 6.1.1.2.1.2
              8 December 2011 at 6:00 pm

              Good call, r0b.

              You can’t identify those who are going to do violence when everyone is talking violence.

              • Jackal …
                8 December 2011 at 10:29 pm

                It’s actually illegal under New Zealand law to express your violent wishes on people in a public forum. Don’t let the right wing blogger’s fool you with their continuos vitriolic attacks… under current law hate speech whether spoken or written is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against an individual or group.

                • lprent …
                  8 December 2011 at 10:53 pm

                  And one of the mods usually deal with it (usually after other commentators draw it to our attention). What r0b was saying is how he is now planning on dealing with this particular problem while moderating. Since r0b rarely bans, this is a bit of a departure for his moderating style. I’m going to be interested to see if he follows the RedLogix style of a short educational bans, or the IrishBill thermonuclear option for this offense.

                  Just to make it clear, we have no particular standards for bans and consistency in sentencing is not a attribute that we wish to encourage. Whoever hands them out uses their own rules and all moderators support whatever they decide. It makes walking over an edge a bit of a sporting feature – you never know if it will be a nice warning or if you will be able to comment here next year. We think that it enhances the trolls sense of enjoyment 😈

                  • pollywog …
                    9 December 2011 at 12:33 pm

                    I personally think it sucks balls theres no consistency re banning.

                    It’s what also fucks me off about judiciary/police discretion on things like name supression, sentencing and parole, charges and arrests.

                    It all comes down to profiling and personal bias creating double standards.

                    While kiwiblog’s demerit system does have some merit, it’s still DPF’s call and his personal bias is well known.

                    Racist redneck cracka ass muthafuckas is all good, everything else gets a double take.

                    For guys i have this personal theory that it all depends on whether you’re carrying a full sac or not and how you last managed to unload it.

                    To use Farrar as an example. I don’t think he’s getting any decent action unless he handles it himself or pays for it. In which case it makes for a whole lotta blogwank and screensplart.

                    Could probably apply that to CacK as well. Though i’d imagine what she lacks in quality she makes up for in quantity.

                    as for Whaleoil. Well the names says it all really…

            • John D 6.1.1.2.1.3
              9 December 2011 at 1:32 pm

              Just as well Jeremy Clarkson doesn’t comment here then

              (in reply to the “being shot” comments above)

          • insider 6.1.1.2.2
            8 December 2011 at 11:16 am

            “Negligence costing hundreds of millions = Asses fired”

            You’ve never worked in the civil service have you? 🙂

    • tc 6.2
      8 December 2011 at 10:57 am

      I think you’ll find treasury advised the gov’t on day 1 to turf SCF out of the scheme along with many other warnings over the time leading up to their collapse.

      More of the old ‘ we know what’s best’ a la joyce/aya tolley/bennett etc etc all ignoring the advice of those annoying public sevants who despite what most folk think actually do run stuff and know a bit about such things.

      This could be the wrecking crew’s watergate

      • ghostwhowalksnz 6.2.1
        8 December 2011 at 11:02 am

        Key and English were probably hoping enough ‘green shoots’ would emerge to rescue them ( and SCF)

        When it didnt they just carried on, making sure English delegated someone else to sign the agreement between the Crown and SCF

    • mik e 6.3
      8 December 2011 at 6:33 pm

      Obese Gorilla .Treasury warned National government that SCF were in breach of their Guarantee .
      But English ignored treasury advice and went ahead and resigned SCF no wonder he doesn’t want to do interviews.

  7. anne 7
    8 December 2011 at 11:16 am

    English’s part in this must not be forgotten,it was english that was warned by the treasurer that he
    wasn’t acting within the terms and conditions of the retail deposit scheme,he took it upon himself to change the rules,called a meeting of scf investors and told them they now had the benefit of a crown guarantee,a rush of deposits and english and the nat govt sat on its hands,costing just on
    $2b to the tax payer.
    Just recently english and key took over 6 companies from scf under the nose of the recievers,they were surprised by this action,so with those 6 companies now under govt
    control they could also be tagged for asset sales,more than likely to the Goldman Sachs empire.
    Hopefully the govt’s actions in all that transpired is under the microscope as well.

    • vto 7.1
      8 December 2011 at 2:54 pm

      anne, what 6 companies are those? What assets etc do they own or control? It wouldn’t be tied up with farming and irrigation on the Canterbury Plains per chance would it?

      dirty sly dogs – my first reaction was not just “follow the money” as grumpy says below re Torchlight, but “watch the assets and where they end up”.

      This dreadful rip-off saga has many legs yet to sprout on it yet ….

      • anne 7.1.1
        8 December 2011 at 3:11 pm

        There were no details of the companies,but it was briefly in the paper,in the story was that
        the recievers were suprised at the action,the it went off the radar,as most adverse publicity that involves the key administration gets shut down by the govt pretty quick,just like the leading stories on scf right now.

        • vto 7.1.1.1
          8 December 2011 at 3:15 pm

          Don’t recall any dates or names or the newspaper or anything?

          • dv 7.1.1.1.1
            8 December 2011 at 3:25 pm

            Try this stuff in april 2011
            http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/4887267/Papers-reveal-SCF-conflict-concerns

            “In view of the Minister’s role in relation to [name with-held] please confirm what action the Minister will be taking and to whom Treasury should address any advice on the proposal,” wrote Park.

            A spokesman for English said the issue involved his ministerial responsibility for the Super Fund, which was the bidder for Dairy Holdings.

            “It was a conflict between ministerial portfolios and it was handled appropriately,” he said.

      • anne 7.1.2
        8 December 2011 at 3:44 pm

        If you search, govt takes over 6 companies from scf nz, interest.co.nz and gareth vaughn have a
        story there,they still dont name the companies,but english is creating another company from all of them.

      • grumpy 7.1.3
        8 December 2011 at 3:50 pm

        You may remember when a Hubbard company developed part of the Rakaia river bed into a dairy farm without bothering to apply for a Resource Consent to irrigate. When ECAN turned them down they went to court and got it – nothing nice about that man!!!

  8. Afewknowthetruth 8
    8 December 2011 at 11:34 am

    One of the many gripes the Occupy Wall St movement have is that there is no accountability and that overt crimes committed by bankers went (and still go) unpunished. (Okay, one small fry went to jail).

    ‘Inside Job’, ‘Capitalsim is the Crisis’, ‘Meltdown’ etc. say it all.

    It is clear that the same culture of greed, profligacy and criminality exists in NZ, and that those who perpetrate the crimes go unpunished because they are so-called community leaders.

    The problem for the average kiwi is to find an institution that is not riddled with corruption to hold relatively small savngs until the entire system implodes as a direct consequence of the inherent flaws in the system (fractional reserve banking, creation of money out of thin air vai bond markets, derivatives etc) and the criminality associated with those who operate it.

  9. James111 9
    8 December 2011 at 11:37 am

    Obviously the collaspe of the Finance companies ,and the poor government governance was happening right through the Labour Governments term in office. I dont think any political party can point score on this one as both were as slack as each other.

    What was of more concern was Micael Cullen touring the country as an exiting finance minister ,and signing up all of the finance companies that were in a near state of collaspe to the Government bail out scheme. This left a burden of over $1.5 billion for the new government to pick up rather nice departure present dont you think

    • dv 9.1
      8 December 2011 at 12:17 pm

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6106690/Government-stumbled-over-SCF-Labour
      Stuff
      The Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme was set up with bipartisan support during the 2008 election campaign under the advice of officials who were concerned the global financial crisis would lead to a run on New Zealand banks.

      WHO extended the guarantee to SCF in April 2010

    • marsman 9.2
      8 December 2011 at 12:17 pm

      The National Administration re-signed SCF back into the scheme knowing it was near collapse, it had NOTHING to do with Michael Cullen. Bill English is responsible for the $1.5 billion burden, a nasty start don’t you think?

    • aerobubble 9.3
      9 December 2011 at 9:53 am

      I think you have missed one glaring problem with the retail guarentee, that the UK and OZ have them.
      This makes its even more unfathomable that it fell over so quickly. If consumers (depositers) had any politicial power in this market they would not be havign to take so much risk (or more likely just keep their money aboard).

      Labour arguably, like the left, has found it hard to stand up for the little guy for the last thirty years, thanks to the Murdoch media. As any journalist in NZ, when being honest, would probably say if they wanted long careers they need to work overseas, and to work overseas they would naturally work for Murdoch.

      So of course we have little protection from big companies and big government when the world
      media market is so right wing. But really who didn’t know this would happen, Karl Marx said as much. We all know concentrations of power lead to more concentrations of power.

      And who is harmed most by not balancing society, but not fairing protecting depositers. Well those gaming the system who are most exposed when the crash does come, which is now inevitable because nobody in government or media seems capable of eating humble pie and discussing the problem. Oh, sure there’s the odd CGT debate, and a few worth commentators suggesting that our debt addiction is a huge weight around our collective necks. But hey, who listens to men at the coal face whining sbout how the safety regime isn’t working.

  10. James111 10
    8 December 2011 at 1:32 pm

    No problem with who agreed to it . It was who they took on ,and how much audting of their business before they were signed up that was the problem. It wasnt an open cheque book to accumalte bad debt.

    I think this is a problem for the Labour party in General ,and the way that they rebirth themselves they dont have many commercially savy or Business savy people in their Government.

    For them to be a strong Government in the future they will have to be more Business friendly as well as moving to centre to attact voters other than the diminishing pond they are continually fishing for votes in with the Greens.

    • Spratwax 10.1
      8 December 2011 at 1:36 pm

      After 6 years of the Nats, believe me, that diminishing pond you are talking about might just

      become a small lake in 2014!

    • Draco T Bastard 10.2
      8 December 2011 at 7:20 pm

      For them to be a strong Government in the future they will have to be more Business friendly as well as moving to centre to attact voters…

      Business friendly = radical right which is certainly not in the centre.

      …other than the diminishing pond they are continually fishing for votes in with the Greens.

      Actually, it’s the Greens that are moving into the centre.

  11. grumpy 11
    8 December 2011 at 1:37 pm

    I said at the time, on these pages that if you want a smoking gun then;

    Totrchlight, Torchlight, Torchlight……………….

  12. Dv 12
    8 December 2011 at 1:47 pm

    James, i am confused. Are labour still in power?

  13. bobo 13
    8 December 2011 at 1:49 pm

    If we had a half decent media this would have been investigated in 09 , wonder if any overseas investor cashed in with any links to Key.. just the kind of opportunism he couldn’t resist I’m sure. Playing NZ like an out of tune ukulele. Suckers!

  14. James111 14
    8 December 2011 at 2:12 pm

    @ Dv No the people have voted and they arent, by quite a butt walloping might I add

    • Dv 14.1
      8 December 2011 at 2:25 pm

      OK, so it IS the Nats responsible fot the extension to SFC. I thought that was the case.
      If the Nats have more business savy, why did they extend the guarantee?
      Doesnt sound very business like.

      • grumpy 14.1.1
        8 December 2011 at 2:36 pm

        I suppose that on these pages I am considered a “righty” but for the life of me I cannot understand how either Labour or especially National can explain away how SCF was able to get into, remain – and get paid out by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme.

        Especially – how were the non secured investers (such as Torchlight) ever get paid out?????????????????

        • Dv 14.1.1.1
          8 December 2011 at 3:02 pm

          The DGS was set up in a weeked, so that we didnt leak money to australia.
          SFC had a investment grade from S&P at the time and the general feeling was that SFC was sound.
          you can make an argument As if the finance cos should hav been included.
          BUT i agree with you, why did the SFC get the extension from the NATs.

          Yes Kerr? In torchlight got paid out 100m
          Plus all the dodgy loans.
          The money mining by Forsyth Barr
          The retention of 80 Staff in the timaru
          Dismiss of lachie mcleod in 2009 with 500k tax free an forgiving of a 15m loan!
          Etc

      • mik e 14.1.2
        8 December 2011 at 6:35 pm

        especially as Treasury warned they were in breach of loan tennants.

    • Lanthanide 14.2
      8 December 2011 at 3:32 pm

      The butt walloping that resulted in the National-ACT-UF coalition dropping from 64 seats to 62? Which is likely to soon become 61 or even 60?

      If you throw in the MP’s 3 we get a new arrangement of 65, 64 or 63, down from 69 at the start of their previous term.

  15. Cactus Kate 15
    8 December 2011 at 5:27 pm

    Not s much a left right thing or even the Nats, more a Bill English South Island welfare clusterfuck..

    As a member of the extreme right of Politics I am already on record as stating SCF should never have been in the guarantee scheme in the first place let alone remained in it, Treasury even specifically responded to my claims http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-debt/news/article.cfm?c_id=54&objectid=10670415

    Looking forward to the greasy pricks wriggling out of what will come out in court.

  16. Carol 16
    8 December 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Russel Norman interviewd on Checkpoint, RNZ, seems to think Treasury also dropped the ball. He questioned the use of consultants by Treasury. Norman is concerned that there was possibly a conflict of interest with some consultants who were local and maybe had interests in financial organisations. He said that’s why another organisation ( SFO I think) used consultants from overseas who had no financial interests in NZ:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/93291/govt-criticised-over-handling-of-deposit-guarantee-scheme

    Green Party co-leader Russel Norman says an immediate inquiry needs to determine if money was wasted through poor decision-making, lack of oversight or inaction.

    Any inquiry should also cover the use of consultants by the Treasury, he says.

    audio of video with the Norman interview is here:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/20111208

    • Dv 16.1
      8 December 2011 at 6:55 pm

      And now the nats cant comment because it sub judice?

      • vto 16.1.1
        8 December 2011 at 8:06 pm

        God these pricks make me sick. Answer the questions in a full and complete way English you arrogant arsehole. Sub-judice my fucking arse. Lying deceiving bullshitting dogs and pigs (apologies to dogs and pigs).

        The biggest fraud in NZ’s history. Brought about by a government scheme with questions all over it from every angle. And that lying cunt Bill English claims sub-judice?

        This, NZ’s biggest ever fraud by a southland country mile, combined with Pike River, NZ’s most deadly criminally negligent fucked up basket case of an enterprise aided and abetted with corporate and government direction, combined with the great lie that is NZ’s environment and our craphole Minister for the Environment (what a piss joke)….

        The ship of New Zealand is at its lowest point in my lifetime imo.

        Key and English will be remembered for this. I’ve run out of expletives. I hope that the world of karma pays them a visit.

        • anne 16.1.1.1
          8 December 2011 at 9:11 pm

          I am also getting increasingly worried about nz and its financial viability ahead if what i have learned is fact and i have no reason not to believe it,tied up with fletchers building,christchurch rebuild,and zombie banks on (aotearoa wider perspecitve chch,fletchers,zombie banks),info there.
          It even looks like our reserve bank is questionable, they have a branch called NZ central securities depository ltd, this company is none other than a branch of the nz reserve bank ,nz securities depository ltd is a branch of Rothschild banking empire which controls Bank of America and the Bank of England,i am just blown away with what is comming out of the woodwork.

  17. Akldnut 17
    8 December 2011 at 7:01 pm

    Just heard on the car radio.
    The newsreader opened with “A request for an inquiry by opposition parties has failed” followed by A spokesman for Bill English has said that there are no plans for an Inquiry into the SCF fraud case. (or something like that – you get the gist)

    The way it was worded implies that it’s not going happen because Bill or his spokesman says they don’t plan for it to go ahead so we need to carry on with our pathetic little lives and forget about it.

  18. randal 18
    8 December 2011 at 7:15 pm

    so they tell the treasury toturn a blind eye and then they say there will be no inquiry.
    suborning the treasury is the sort of beahviour one expects from banana republics and african despots not first world democracies.
    fair is foul and foul is fair and the treaury stands revealed as an arm of the tory government.
    kweewee and his pals are not leaving a very nice legacy and the sooner this parliament of jobbers and grubbers is dissolved the better.

    • Akldnut 18.1
      8 December 2011 at 7:29 pm

      For a supposed impartial entity it’s always pushing for Govts to head to the right.
      I can’t remember Treasury not pushing a Tory agenda and I’m no spring chicken.

      • mik e 18.1.1
        8 December 2011 at 7:36 pm

        They did say that increasing the minimum wage wouldn’t cause job losses but Key spun out of that one.

  19. James111 19
    8 December 2011 at 7:34 pm

    @Lathanide
    Tell me how did Labours base line vote hold up ? What was Nationals Base line vote again, Yes thats right a butt walloping in any ones mind. How many Labour Mps in the house this year compared with last year. When I looked at the map of NZ after the election it looked very Blue to me Take of your red tinted glasses

    • Jackal 19.1
      8 December 2011 at 10:53 pm

      That’s great James111 considering National lost nearly 100,000 votes on 2008 and they still get to run the show. I really like the bit where they ignored Treasuries warnings about SCF… a decision which has now cost us $1.7 billion. Any idea why they did that James111?

      Good to see your unwavering support for people who should be considered criminals is unconditional. When I look at a map of New Zealand I see a country that is $1.7 billion dollars poorer because National is either completely incompetent or corrupt. Don’t let your blue tinted glasses let you see the truth though… because you obviously can’t handle the truth.

  20. mik e 20
    8 December 2011 at 7:40 pm

    J 1×3 take of your FPP glasses and look through your MMP ones left block vs right block
    2 seats thats all it will take on Saturday or maybe it will be 2014.

  21. James111 21
    8 December 2011 at 7:54 pm

    Mike are you saying now that you are going to rely on Greens and Winston wow!! thats aiming high. What happened to the party for the working man Labour? , once a very proud party. Are you prepared next Election for the Greens to have more seats than Labour.

    Im comparing two parties Labour versus National nothing else. What its telling me is that Labour isnt pulling any of the National support.

    Yet National was able to pull support from Labour in the previous election and hasnt let it go.National was able to build its support right up under key to win an Election can you see Shearer or Cunnlife having the Charisma to do it not from where im sitting.
    Labour needs a total make over

    • Colonial Viper 21.1
      8 December 2011 at 9:17 pm

      Im comparing two parties Labour versus National nothing else. What its telling me is that Labour isnt pulling any of the National support.

      The problem with this analysis is that we are not in an FPP world any more.

    • mik e 21.2
      8 December 2011 at 10:14 pm

      you mean like national with don brash

  22. Jo 22
    8 December 2011 at 8:13 pm

    Four part harmony please chaps. You know who you are, some of us do too. You know the tune, it’s an old, old song. Round and round you go now… tahi, rua, toru, fa!

    Rort rort rort your float
    then we’ll skim the cream
    verily verily verily verily
    We’re the dreaming team

  23. anne 23
    8 December 2011 at 8:57 pm

    NZ does not only have scf rort but chch,fletcher as well take a look at
    aotearoa.wider perspective at chch,fletcher,zombie banks,there are alot of branches and
    fish tails of fraud in nz,some have not been uncovered yet.

  24. Kevin 24
    9 December 2011 at 12:11 pm

    The government introducing the Guarantee Scheme was both naive and foolish because it presented the business community with an opportunity to gamble at the taxpayers expense, which they did.
    Although reprehensible to many , the action taken by investors in placing late deposits was legitimate and legal and a consequence to the naivety of the scheme in the first place.
    It will be difficult to prove fraud or corrupt practices under those circumstances, the taxpayer will have to take the burden of losses engineered for this scheme.

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  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 hours ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago

  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    10 hours ago

  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    11 hours ago

  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    23 hours ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • 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
    2 days 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
    3 days 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. ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    4 days 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
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