The desperation of the National’s sockpuppets

Written By: - Date published: 6:51 pm, May 14th, 2014 - 77 comments
Categories: blogs, david cunliffe, dpf, john key, making shit up, Minister for Photo-ops, social media lolz, spin, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: , ,

National Party pollster David Farrar must be seeing some numbers he really doesn’t like because he’s veered off on another weird attack on David Cunliffe.
This time he’s falsely claiming Cunliffe’s photoshopped himself into an event he didn’t attend.

The slight problem with Farrar’s breathless accusation is that there are pictures online of David at the rally. Like this one and many more that can easily be found around the net…

This looks like another odd attempt to smear a man that the Nats are clearly worried about. It looks David Farrar finally realised how much of a dickhead he looks as he goes from this incorrect assertion (ie a lie) with a touch of plausible deniability.

I’m not a photoshop expert but I’ve shown it to a couple of people who handy with photo editing, and they reckon it is photoshopped. They may be wrong. Any experts out there who can offer an opinion?

Which when he finds he is wrong descends to this attempt at pushing infer that the his guilt for being a very lazy mischief maker is the other guys fault…

UPDATE: Have had confirmed that David Cunliffe was at the rally. So the image may be touched up, but is genuine.

And on to a series of justification about why he David Farrar really is not just a petty dipshit putting out this kind of nonsense and never bothering to check it. I guess he is trying to remember the glory days when he was the single big voice in the local blogs and could lie like this for his paymasters  with relative impunity.

Cameron Slater stalking David Cunliffe1It is a hell of a bad look for someone who has spent so much time on the board of InternetNZ that he is too damn lazy to use google to check some bullshit someone sent him. I guess that they were hard up for competent candidates.

But even weirder (as usual) is the under-employed Cameron Slater, a blogger with no visible means of support and with lots of friends in the Prime Minsters office, posting creepy, paparazzi style pictures of David Cunliffe eating his lunch at parliament. The question one has to ask is from whom did the bloated moron get this photo from? John Key our Minister for Photo-ops or his personal blogmeister Jason Ede perhaps?

Only in the weird and obsessive imaginations of the bloggers that the National Party pays for one way or another could eating your lunch and speaking to a rally in support of saving kidnapped girls be political crimes.

Cameron Slater stalking David CunliffeWhat dirt will they dig up next? David Cunliffe buying shoes? Oh, wait

Just pathetic. I expect we will see a lot more of National’s dickheads acting like fools heading into this election. It isn’t like they have substantial to support in this governments economic record apart from National being good at putting us heavily into debt again.

77 comments on “The desperation of the National’s sockpuppets ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Ant 1
    14 May 2014 at 7:03 pm

    It also looks like Farrar and his hot shot team of photoshop gurus in their tinfoil-hattery don’t know the techniques of how an image is sharpened and adjusted to give the main subject more emphasis or to compensate for being out of focus. You mask the subject from the background then adjust them independently, generally as their own layer.

    As a technique it is pretty normal part of work flow for processing photos.

    I suppose for them that would still be a case of Cunliffe being Tricky™.

    • framu 1.1
      15 May 2014 at 8:14 am

      and thats just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what photoghraphers do in photoshop to real images

    • RJL 1.2
      15 May 2014 at 9:15 am

      Given the evidence of DPFs various posts documenting bush walks and climbs in Nepal etc, it seems that he knows nothing much about either photography or photoshop.

  2. SHG 2
    14 May 2014 at 7:04 pm

    The image in question has obviously been manipulated, and not very proficiently.

    [lprent: That may be your opinion – and I’d say that it is impossible to tell. Go and raise your pet lies, assertions and conspiracies on your own post on your own blog or comment in Open Mike. Don’t do it on mine, they really are just a diversion troll.

    My post is almost entirely about David Farrar and Cameron Slater being a complete dickheads stalking Cunliffe with silly picture posts. ]

    • lprent 2.1
      14 May 2014 at 7:09 pm

      Huh? He was at the rally. Is there any particular reason to say that he was not. It took only a couple minutes to find out that David Farrar was just outright lying in his post in suggesting that David Cunliffe wasn’t at that rally.

      What is your point – that you are a complete putz?

      Incidentally, if you notice, my post isn’t about the image – it is about David Farrar claims that Cunliffe wasn’t at the rally. If you raise a different topic – do it in Open Mike.

      • SHG 2.1.1
        14 May 2014 at 7:23 pm

        Way to leap to conclusions. I’m not saying he wasn’t at the rally.

        [deleted]

        [lprent: I didn’t say that you did. I said that David Farrar did? Is this a sockpuppet? But you didn’t heed my warnings about what I the author considered this post to be about. Do not repeat the offense for which you got warned – banned 2 months. That is one fast way to de-amnesty yourself. ]

  3. Awww 3
    14 May 2014 at 7:10 pm

    Intrusive. Maybe this is why he didn’t want to do the Campbell Live interview.

    • lprent 3.1
      14 May 2014 at 7:14 pm

      I wasn’t aware that David Farrar was doing one.

    • Anne 3.2
      14 May 2014 at 7:26 pm

      They’re stalking Cunliffe! It’s a measure of the fear they have of him… and their gut instinct is to sink to the lowest common denominator when the going gets tough.

      Its easy to see what the Crosby/Textor instructions are for the next few months. Lie, lie, lie. Lie in the House, on the street, in the TV studios… anywhere. And the nearer to the election the bigger the lies will become.

      Labour/especially must deploy a counter strategy otherwise the bastards will succeed.

      • geoff 3.2.1
        14 May 2014 at 7:37 pm

        They’re stalking Cunliffe!

        Yeah it’s incredibly creepy, and exactly what you’d expect from these…well…creeps.

        And you’re dead right about the lying lying lying.

        I think the only strategy Labour can deploy is to hold up Key/Nationals lies next to the reality and let the voter see the stark contrast.

      • burt 3.2.2
        14 May 2014 at 8:45 pm

        They’re stalking Cunliffe!

        Like myself, many of them probably have iPredict contracts that he’ll be gone before the end of the year. So sure, he cops a beating. However at this stage, the odds of him not being leader by end of 2014 are about 4x his rating’s as preferred PM. I have a double vested interest in seeing him go, a) he is IMHO a complete disaster as a leader of a workers rights party and b) I benefit on iPredict 😉

        • mickysavage 3.2.2.1
          14 May 2014 at 8:55 pm

          Burt your thinking that David is a disaster as a leader has reinforced my belief that he is the appropriate leader and will win. Better start selling your ipredict stock …

        • Tracey 3.2.2.2
          15 May 2014 at 8:46 am

          sorry burt, are you saying some people might be deliberately doing false stuff and smearing to bring in their ipredict bet? I realise YOU are not doing that, just wasnt sure about the connection between your comment that people have contracts he will be gone… and so sure he’s copping a beating.

  4. TheContrarian 4
    14 May 2014 at 7:17 pm

    I don’t doubt he was there, but someone did a shitty job.

    LPrent, stop being such a sensitive wee soul. It’s a shit picture.

    [lprent: You mean that it is black and white? Since almost certainly was taken on a color CCD and made black and white by photo manipulation inside the camera of outside, the image itself isn’t that interesting.

    But the post isn’t about the image it is about Farrar and the bloated moron being dickhead stalkers. So this is your warning. Try Open Mike for conspiracy theories.. or return to the banned… ]

    • geoff 4.1
      14 May 2014 at 7:30 pm

      I’ve just looked at the image on the Labour party website and it looks like it has the standard instagram filter on it, nothing special. certainly doens’t look like it has had him pasted in there.

      Why would they bother doing that if he was at the rally anyway??
      It’s not like it’s a super important picture anyway and it only features on the Labour website.

      The kiwiblog picture looks edited but that’s because it’s clear that Farrar has edited it! (contrast etc)

      Lynn is correct, this is a lame smear attempt from Farrar/National that has back fired. It does smack of desperation.

      • lprent 4.1.1
        14 May 2014 at 7:47 pm

        Be fair. Farrar said that he received the possibly enhanced photo from someone via email (as I remember it). Of course he could have just googled to find the originals and not looked like a dork.

        I guess that cautionary thought just never reached past the National driven stupidity?

        Of course that someone could have been Cameron Slater or Jason Ede from Whaleoil I guess. Both have track record of being imaginative about getting good photos

        • geoff 4.1.1.1
          14 May 2014 at 8:01 pm

          I guess that cautionary thought just never reached past the National driven stupidity?

          Well as you say in your post, what numbers has Farrar seen? People are much more likely to do stupid things when they get desperate.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.2
          14 May 2014 at 8:57 pm

          I guess that cautionary thought just never reached past the National driven stupidity?

          Nope. It would have been an immediate ZOMG!!!, must post immediately to show how tricky DC is!!!11!.

          • lprent 4.1.1.2.1
            14 May 2014 at 9:22 pm

            Cameron Slater perhaps. But David Farrar?

            I suspect that he thinks a bit more than that. That is why I think he must be getting a bit desperate after looking at the polling numbers he does for them in his non-blogging “work”.

            Or someone reading them in his control at the 9th floor is and ordering him to take a few more risks.

            • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.2.1.1
              14 May 2014 at 11:21 pm

              Or someone reading them in his control at the 9th floor is and ordering him to take a few more risks.

              I would say that is more likely.

              Farrar is a contractor. He’s not going to be taking liberties this close to elections without clearing it all with his political client first.

      • Tracey 4.1.2
        15 May 2014 at 8:49 am

        I would expect this from the Slug but thought Farrar’s lies were more massaged and subtle. There is no way a normal person’s first reaction tor receiving such a photo and suggestion would NOT be to do a google search and see if he was there or not.

        It’s the complete lack of contrition when found out that is staggering. Oh well, they caught that lie, no worries, now for the next one…

    • TheContrarian 4.2
      14 May 2014 at 10:03 pm

      Warning heeded, mien commandant.

      And I want to thank for this break you’re giving me – I spent the last 2 hours or so in a state of catatonic despair, rolling round on the floor gibbering like an Oxy addict. Drenched in sweat, spinal-column wracked with spasms. Beset with terrific fear that the great Lovelockian terror, the Cthulhu of The Standard, would wrought his justice, fling me into the pits of madness for having the opinion that a photo, not one I thought was staged or photoshopped, merely looked shit and poorly done.

      I’ll breathe a sigh of relief, suck back heartily on my nicotine vaporiser, and think of some other beast to prod.

      As you were kind sir.

      • lprent 4.2.1
        14 May 2014 at 10:09 pm

        Good to hear that I brought some excitement to your life.

        • TheContrarian 4.2.1.1
          14 May 2014 at 10:13 pm

          The way you prance about here like a peacock makes me feel I brought some to yours.

          Lets call it even.

          • lprent 4.2.1.1.1
            14 May 2014 at 10:32 pm

            You always can raise silly conspiracy theories in the sewer or Open Mike. Just not on my post. Seems perfectly fair to me. Just like knowingly lying seems fair to Farrar.

            • TheContrarian 4.2.1.1.1.1
              14 May 2014 at 10:35 pm

              Lucky for me I didn’t actually suggest any sort of conspiracy or wizardry has taken place then.

              • lprent …
                14 May 2014 at 10:49 pm

                Good point. You are correct. It is a crap poster.

                As you might have picked up, I am pretty pissed off about the lying that showed up today at the sewer. It is stupid, shallow, and something that needs quashing as a political technique.

                However I am pretty sure that it is simple to make up such mischief. Farrar will make quite a good target between now and the election. With a bit of luck we can see if he appreciates the attention enough to donate me some discovery time.

                • Tracey …
                  15 May 2014 at 8:51 am

                  and in all his replies not a word of condemnation of farrar’s mistake/deliberate lie/smear

    • Frank Macskasy 4.3
      15 May 2014 at 12:37 am

      @ Contrarian; “LPrent, stop being such a sensitive wee soul.”

      That should be “LPrent, stop being such a sensitive wee sausage”

      If you’re going to quote the milklady, do it right.

      Anyhoo. There are those who think that astronauts on the moon were faked – the 1970s equivalents of photoshopping. Nothing wrong with this pic; http://fmacskasy.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/moon-landing.jpg

      😉

  5. Jimmie 5
    14 May 2014 at 7:35 pm

    [deleted]

    [lprent: Banned 4 weeks. ]

    • Anne 5.1
      14 May 2014 at 7:40 pm

      oooooooh… they don’t like it up em do they.

    • geoff 5.2
      14 May 2014 at 7:40 pm

      You are showing your age, Jimmie.
      It’s called Instagram, all the kids are doing it these days…

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

      • freedom 5.2.1
        15 May 2014 at 8:44 am

        from KB
        “jims_whare (393 comments) says:
        May 14th, 2014 at 8:32 pm

        The leftazis at the standard are a wee big exercised about this post…..akin to blasphemy I think. I got banned for 4 weeks for suggesting that DC needed someone with slightly better touch up skills than whoever mucked this up.”

        I never saw what Jimmie said, but guessing it was not as innocent as he is trying to suggest

  6. Ant 6
    14 May 2014 at 7:43 pm

    I think the biggest crime here is not using the “this looks shopped” meme when you have the opportunity.

    http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/this-looks-shopped

    Someone should also let DPF know that a hastag wasn’t magically floating in front of Cunliffe at the protest either. Obviously a grey and overcast day in Wellington though…

  7. Stephanie Rodgers 7
    14 May 2014 at 8:04 pm

    The Internet Party’s anti-GCSB surveillance ad directly below the post is delightfully appropriate.

  8. felix 8
    14 May 2014 at 8:38 pm

    “It is a hell of a bad look for someone who has spent so much time on the board of InternetNZ that he is too damn lazy to use google to check some bullshit someone sent him.”

    Yes well I imagine he gives the bullshit a little extra credence when it comes from the PM’s office.

  9. Mary 9
    14 May 2014 at 8:55 pm

    What’s more perplexing is how MSM thinks farrar and slater have something to say.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.1
      14 May 2014 at 9:10 pm

      +1

    • lprent 9.2
      14 May 2014 at 9:14 pm

      Farrar and Slater provide a channel for sleaze merchants (and some reporters) to bypass the integrity and checking that reporters are meant to have.

      There have a been a number of instances that I am aware of where a story that was offered to the gallery by National’s dumpster divers and was turned down because it was unverifiable and frankly rubbish.

      Then lo and behold within a week, it turns up on one of the Nationally funded blogs like Kiwiblog or Whaleoil. Still unverified. Still without proof. Still not a story that any journalist would touch because it would violate the press council rules.

      But when it is on a National blog, then of course the media can talk about this story turning up on the blog rather than having to check and verify.

      Of course you understand that these blogs are available right around the country eh? Has nothing to do with A National Political Party….

      They really are dickheads to think that this kind of daft back channelling to the MSM isn’t pretty damn obvious.

      • repateet 9.2.1
        14 May 2014 at 11:13 pm

        The strange thing is the WhaleOil photo of D Cunliffe today was neither preceded nor followed by a Mental Health break. An admission of being beyond help?

      • karol 9.2.2
        15 May 2014 at 7:14 am

        Interesting that on last night’s episode of The Good Wife, there was a Slater-type blogger. It was explained as a standard strategy (in the US): one whereby a political smear article, rejected by the MSM because the evidence contradicted the claims, was posted by a blogger. It included a title/subtitle explaining it as what the MSM wouldn’t print – as though it had been unnecessarily censored.

      • Stephanie Rodgers 9.2.3
        15 May 2014 at 9:22 am

        And in this instance Farrar can use the defence of “Oh, I was just asking an innocent question, silly me”.

  10. Tiger Mountain 10
    14 May 2014 at 9:24 pm

    A truly pathetic display from Farrar. Where next will senior opposition figures encounter pap lenses? Shower cam? That morning after photo of carpet after a press gallery function was pointless enough but David Cunliffe having a meal, really.

    Good too that the Snowden pipe is drip drip dripping on the kiwi spooks too. Of course no one seriously expects them to be gathering lots of data but they sure as hell have access to some of the yanks efforts. ShonKey is the minister where the buck stops, his school chum in charge, so “I know nothink” will not cut it for much longer.

    • Colonial Viper 10.1
      14 May 2014 at 11:18 pm

      Good too that the Snowden pipe is drip drip dripping on the kiwi spooks too. Of course no one seriously expects them to be gathering lots of data but they sure as hell have access to some of the yanks efforts.

      Everything entering and leaving NZ via international cables and satellites will probably be swept up and stored. Anything which goes through a google (including Gmail and YouTube), yahoo!, hotmail or similar will definitely be swept up and stored. I expect that NZ plays its part as one of the original Five Eyes.

      • Tiger Mountain 10.1.1
        15 May 2014 at 6:52 am

        “probably” Viper, that is the problem when the Prime Minister hides behind not disclosing “operational matters”. Waihopai does not sit there for nothing or legislation enabling leaning on the ISPs. This post and comments will likely have been perused already.

  11. lurgee 11
    15 May 2014 at 6:59 am

    I imagine Farrar is just trying to be annoying here; he has clearly succeeded.

  12. anker 12
    15 May 2014 at 7:38 am

    @lurgee 11.

    What a meaningless shallow life Farrar must have. All his goals appear to be selfish……… If one is going to be annoying, better to pick something that will help people or advance good causes, e.g. being annoying about why this govt didn’t pay out Pike River Miner families as they were due………

    Some people need to get out and do some real work e.g. helping a charity like The Hospice or the Sallies. Or what about making himself useful in Chch with a wheelbarrow.

    • lurgee 12.1
      15 May 2014 at 7:33 pm

      Of course his life is sad and empty! He’s a rightie! More to the point, he’s the man who admitted lightly cyber-stalking his first crush on a monthly basis on National Radio. Someone still mooning over Spotty Sally from 30 years ago is clearly the proud owner of a sad and empty existence.

  13. felix 13
    15 May 2014 at 8:33 am

    Oh ffs. The pic on the Labour site is colour! https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzlabour/13996007757/

    Is Farrar colourblind? No?

    Then he must have known the photo he published had already been manipulated.

  14. King Kong 14
    15 May 2014 at 9:50 am

    Many here were adamant in September that even though most of his colleagues, and the majority of those who have ever met him, couldn’t stand Cunliffe, he would be hugely popular with the public if elected leader.

    I have no reason to doubt those vociferous advocates (a few of whom are allegedly now working in Cunliffes office) so the only thing that could be making DC one of the least popular opposition leaders in history, is the smear campaign that Slater and Farrar have been accused of.

    If it is so successful why would they stop just because lprent starts crying about it?

    • lprent 14.1
      15 May 2014 at 10:18 am

      I don’t think it is a successful campaign. I just think it is a stupid and rather despicable campaign. However all I am intending to do is to focus exactly the same kind of personal crap back about Farrar (don’t need to do it about Cameron) because he really is a bit of an arsehole when he does it.

      Why would you object to that? Do you have some kind of double standard? Or are you busy boning one of them?

      And I was helping out Helen Clark throughout the 90’s. Her personal popularity barely got into double figures, then it went stratospheric. For that matter when John Key was anointed to be leader of the opposition, it took him a while to get close to 20%.

      Leaders of the opposition seldom rate in the personal popularity. But I guess you are simply too thick to have noticed that eh?

      • King Kong 14.1.1
        15 May 2014 at 10:38 am

        You keep on believing brother. If you don’t have your unflinching faith then you may, all too quickly, realise that you might be just a sad old man getting stiffies from bossing around losers whilst telling everyone just how clever you are on your own website.

        Unless I have misunderstood and you actually don’t think Cunliffe will be as popular as Clark or Key.

        • lprent 14.1.1.1
          15 May 2014 at 11:18 am

          I have no idea how popular he will be when he becomes PM at the end of the year. That really depends on what he does in office. If he does a Tony Abbott and turns out to have lied to the public, he won’t be popular.

          But most people who become PM have a massive rise in popularity either after they go into office and sometimes just before when it is clear that they will win. I don’t think it has anything much to do with support. In my opinion it has to do with simple name recognition and that people like “supporting” winners.

          The personal popularity measurement is essentially useless in my opinion at measuring much apart from name recognition.

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    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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    7 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
    7 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
    7 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
    7 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

  • 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
    2 days 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
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    4 days 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
    5 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
    5 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 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
    7 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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

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