Has their ever been a more racist party than the Green party???
Can you imagine if National had a billboard of a overweight unemployed Maori from south Auckland who beats up his wife, and they had the headline “Vote for Me” Party Vote Labour”
Its unbelievable how one party can hate one race so much, as I said in my previous post, if national had of done this using a blanet sterotype of a Maori, there would be outrage.
So what the Greens are suggesting is that your average National supporter is a rich old white man and I’m guessing they are suggesting that this is a bad thing.
Why you guys are trying to get votes by using hate, I would never know.
Yep, its been mocked up as a joke, and the Greens will blast it out on their web page, saying “Its only a joke, its not a ad”
Kind of like what Faux News does, all the time, when they want to blast the democrats, they tell ya something is a joke, but they keep playing it and playing it.
When satire is good its great, like the brilliant Jon Stewart, but when its bad its more cringe worthy than working for David Brent.
I agree with Brett. The left should try running a campaign that doesn’t involve smear and scare tactics. At least kiwiblog doesn’t resort to these sorts of blatant hate posts.
This blog is a joke. The bloggers here actually think they’re going to convince everyone with their left national-hating spin. But anyone with any sort of intelligence can see through it.
The posters on the standard are just further ostracising themselves from any mainstream or common-held individuals by blogging posts such as the one above. But in a way, I should actually give the standard the thanks it deserves. Because of these hate posts and the constant complaining, indidviduals are put off the left much faster than Helen and Winston could ever do themselves.
I’m left wing in many ways. But The Standard honestly gives the left a bad name by running these vile and one-sided acttacks on anyone who does not agree with them and blocking anyone who dares to disagree with the comments they made.
Any party or company that uses children in their advertising (that isnt directly related to a child’s product) I would be very wary of.
[please don’t comment when you’re stoned. a) we use question marks to end questions ‘i would like to know’ is a statement of your desires, not a question b) no-one donates any money to this blog, no-one gets any money for writing on it. SP]
*You may be sick of some old white man thinking they own the place? Which is strange since we have a high percentage of woman in power?*
Sure we have some women in some key positions. But they’ve never had the kind of power as the old white boys. Of course women have always had their own kind of power, which is probably the one you are most afraid of.
*Some of us are sick of politicians on the left telling us how to think, what to eat and drink, and what to say, and are also sick of the blame game.*
That’s fine. Get political and get out there and do something about what you want changed then. Although I can’t recall the legislation that makes me eat or think in certain ways.
If you really want to get upset about billboards go here:
Is it green social policy to feature happy children on their billboards when they form a government that is responsible for the massive increase in child abuse and infanticide statistics? Bloody airy fairy sods are nothing more than useless hypocrites!
The Labour Party would be my first and only guess Brett.
Explains the large percentage of Union and Labour staff positing day to day on here. Try some transparency and openess posters of the standard (which you readily attack National over not having) and actually show your own agenda. Or your real names might be nice. Congratulations to those who are open enough to freely admit their own personal name and stand up for their own views without having to hide behind some log-in name.
It’s still offensive Steve to those individuals who fit under that particular stereotype. What would happen if a right-winger were to do the exact same parody with a low class maori beer-drinking worker in the picture and a title that said ‘party vote labour’.
I’m sure everyone would be up in arms screaming foul about how offensive that individual was being. It’s all a matter of perception.
The Green camapign looks awesome this time 10% of the vote is looking achievable
I was on a Greeen party stall yesterday and had unbelievably good feedback and visitors.
Only two people mentioned section 59 as a concern which was a surprise.
Labour who were next door had moderate interest and visitors whilst the National guy packed up and went home about ten o clock through lack of interest.
Uhm, I’m not stoned, and heres is a question, if anyone donated money to this blog would you except it?
[how could they donate money to the blog? it has no legal personality, no bank account. SP]
[lprent: Just at present the only person who donates money to the site is me (and I’m the only person or entity that ever has). That is likely to be the way that it stays. We don’t even have advertising. If the financial demands get too high, then I’d consider it. But I think we’d be more likely to just move to cheaper servers. It means that we can do things unencumbered by the need to consult anyone – including other writers on the site. ]
of course it is stereotypical, brett, that’s how satire works. But it’s clearly overblown – it mocks National voters as not ordinary Kiwis but part of a rich elite… but at the same time we all know that actual national voters don’t usually look like Rowley Birken QC (he’s a character on the fast show – the character is an over the top and hilarious play on the old drunk upper class toff)… it’s the fact that any sane person knows i’m not really saying all national voters are old drunks that makes it funny.. it wouldn’t be funny if it were hateful but it’s clearly not.. if you don’t think it’s funny you’re more than welcome to fuck off and make your own funny billboards on your site, maybe someone will see them some day.
sarah, it’s generally not funny when the person does the mocking is in a more powerful social position – so rich, mostly pakeha national saying ‘all labour voters are poor drunk maori’ isn’t funny, it’s just the powerful kicking those at the bottom again.
“sarah, it’s not funny when the person (who) does the mocking is in a more powerful social position – so rich, mostly pakeha national saying ‘all labour voters are poor drunk maori’ isn’t funny, it’s just the powerful kicking those at the bottom again.”
No double standards on this site ……. more along quietly now – and after such a reasonable first paragraph too.
It would be quite easy to donate money to this blog, just go up to Steve, slip a 50 Dollar note in his Karl Marx book, tell him to keep up the good work and to keep bashing big bad John Key who has the audacity to have nice house, which I’m sure he didn’t earn himself through hard work.
It will be quite easy.
I don’t think Steve has figured out, if ya going write something on a blog on the internet, your going to get people who disagree with you.
[brett, pretty used to people disagreeing with me by now, thanks, many of them in a more sophisticated manner than this. Obviously, someone giving me money is different from giving The Standard money. But I would not seek any such money and if someone did want to donate to The Standard I would suggest they give the money to a different Leftwing political cause instead – I have more than enough money for my needs, The Standard doesn’t need any money, apart from price of the server space, which Lynn pays out of his own unimpoverished pocket. SP]
[lprent: Oh it isn’t that unimproverished. I have a lawsuit and building site to fund. Some dickhead in the previous national government thought it’d be a good idea to deregulate the building industry.
Some idiots in the C&R (aka local National party in drag) did so without getting good building checks done on buildings like mine. Consequently the Auckland City Council (currently C&R dominated)has been spending considerable time in the high court. Our case come up in March. For the last two years I’ve been forking out money in massive interest payments. Fortunately this happens to be the cheapest entertainment around – all I had to do was give up smoking to pay for it. ]
Im taking the south park point of view, not the lefist point of view, my main complaint is you cant say, you cant make fun of one sector and say you cant make fun of another, that is bigoted and that is what this site is doing.
Brett, do you consider the Monty Python skit “upper class twit of the year” racist and sexist?
Is The Simpsons racist and sexist because Monty Burns is a white male?
Were the IWI/KIWI billboards racist?
How about the Mcain campaign calling Obama ‘presumptuous’?
What if it was ‘uppity’ instead, would that be racist?
How about Dykeocracy? Is that sexist? Or nanny state? Does that offend you?
I’m only asking because you seem to take this stuff seriously, and those examples after the Monty Burns aren’t satire so I’m genuinely interested in your thoughts.
Hey Brett, give it a rest man. The picture here wasn’t from the Green Party. It was a mock up by SP. You didn’t think it was funny, fair enough. You make a good point that SP wouldn’t dare use a picture of an obese Maori voter as typical of labour-voting, because that would be considered racist. You could have also made the point that the picture above could well have been party vote labour, with a picture of crusty old George Hawkins, Harry Duynhoven, Michael Cullen, Mark Burton, etc etc.
When it comes to crusty old white guys, there are far more in Labour’s caucus than there are in any other political party. Equally, SP knows that when it comes to diversity National has a lot more to choose from, with candidates who are actually going to make it into Parliament, than what Labour’s got. In reality the real National Party vote billboard would have young and talented people like Nikki Kaye, Melissa Lee, Sam Lotu-Iiga, Simon Bridges, Hekia Parata, etc etc. Even John Key is a generation younger than Helen Clark.
I think the Standard is entitled to post anonymously. Call them out individually when their authors are being partisan, sure. It works much more effectively than trying to rail against the whole machine. There’s plenty of argument you can come up with on such a poor effort as this from SP. This was an attempt at humour. Some people found it funny. You didn’t. That’s life. But if you’re going to argue against it, use the arguments rather than attacking the whole site.
The captcha is “so Aldershot”. Maybe I’ve been hanging around this place too long, but this is the second time I’ve seen the word “Aldershot” in a Standard captcha. It is still only the second time I’ve ever seen the word “aldershot”. Anybody know, without resorting to a dictionary or google, what an Aldershot is?
Maybe a post-lobotomy patient should have used in the piss take instead? Not very sensitive, but much nearer the mark given the unbearable dribble emanating from those of a right wing bent in the comments above.
On the matter of the Green billboards, pretty good. Could easily have slipped into mash potato smaltz, but haven’t.
weka, sorry for being unclear. Im certainly not saying that it’s not homophobic, it most certainly is. It’s also sexist though yeah?
I sort of understood the term to be based around the idea that political, or any other sort of power, is inherently masculine.
Therefore where any women have any power they must be ‘faux women’;therefore ‘Lesbians’; therefore ‘Dykeocracy’. So both homophobic on it’s face, and sexist at heart. It’s a twofer!
Brett.
Nope, I’m comparing the stereotype in this post to Monty Burns, because it’s the same stereotype.
” you cant make fun of one sector and say you cant make fun of another”
This is the heart of it, and the coronary comes when you are talking about power relationships.
Godwin alert!
It’s one thing to make Nazi jokes along the lines of Harry Enfield’s ‘Not too Camp’ jibes, or sing songs about the number of gonads various reich officials could claim possession of.
Joking about how many Jews can fit in a VW? Not so funny.
Steve Pierson said: The Greens billboards have shown how it’s done – striking and simple without being dishonest or simplistic. Maybe National could imitate them:
Nope, they won’t get it together Steve, Thay can’t even get the grammar correct.
I’d say maximise the Party vote for the Greens. That’s the best way to give the big finger to those with a far-right agenda who back National and their hidden agenda.
Given the policies, the Nats would have to be swallowing dead rats for the next 3 years to get Green support!
Equally, SP knows that when it comes to diversity National has a lot more to choose from, with candidates who are actually going to make it into Parliament, than what Labour’s got.
Wrong again. You’re usually more accurate than this Tim.
Steve money was donated to your blog by Labour who paid for your server hosting am I not correct!!
[lprent: Wrong (as usual).
The Labour party has never paid for anything to do with this blog. A kind organization donated some server space to the NZLP. Needless to say the NZLP had absolutely no idea what to do with this. So they gave control of it to some activists to provide facilities for other left activists. When the standard was falling over due to lack of bandwidth, access to the servers was offered and accepted.
So the NZLP has never paid anything to maintain this site. The server space you’re referring to was paid for by the donor. Of course that idiot Whale is incapable of understanding subtleties like that, just as I suspect you are.
Rather than let the NZLP put up with undeserved flak from the bottom feeders around the blogs, after 3 weeks, I moved the site to my home server. Shortly thereafter put it in the linux server that it now resides in, and steadily increased my payments to keep the resource levels up.
Now I take great pleasure in terminating idiots like you who even mention the topic here. I consider that it shows a considerable level of stupidity bearing in mind the number of times I’ve explained this. I’m tired of it so I *love* making examples of people who mention it in my presence – I like helping people achieve martyrdom.
Banned for ummm 2 months to contemplate . E-mail me after the election to get removed from the blacklist. I’m putting you there because you do not ban yourself, and put too many messages into the moderation queue.]
It wasn’t an airbrushed photo of him trying to look twenty years younger? Just like Miss Clark does every election. [lprent: You’re looking to me like a troll. Lift your Standard or leave. So far I haven’t seen anything useful in any of your comments. ]
Rob. Before I joined the collective, the Standard was hosted on server space that Labour had been donated and passed on to us for a total of 7 days.
The Standard had outgrown our previous server, the Labour offer was accepted, perhaps unwisely, but they decided The Standard needed bigger space to grow into than Labour had given anyway and moved on to our current server, which Lynn pays for. There was no money from Labour for the cost of the server at any point.
Yup, there was 7 days on a server, server space worth approximately bugger all a year (what’s 7/365ths of bugger all?)
[lprent: The NZLP didn’t even pay for that space for 21 days. It was a donation to them. So as usual he is dead wrong – and now banned.]
Just seen this – disgusting and hypocritical. You just love to take the piss out of white middle class older men don’t you.
No doubt somebody above has already suggested doing the fat-arsed lazy dole-bludger, probably maori or islander in south auckland, who has a cuzzy in the courts or jail. Stereotypes ay SP? gotta love ’em. And my god how you seem to love stereotypes – well only certain ones. of course. otherwise it is racist. isn’t it.
the biggest letdown of the current state of the left
I love that old guy from the fast show…fantastic. His entire response to life was that ‘…I was drunk at the time.’ Gosh if the tories were half as appealing, Id be half inclined to vote for them!
Lets not forget the IWI – KIWI billboards. The above is hardly aimed at creating the same social division that the Nats attempted to do in 2005. Whether something is racist surely depends on who is telling the story. Most of the members of the Greens and indeed on this site, have old white men as fathers, grandfathers and so on. Too me it depicts the same tired men, (with the exception of key) with the same tired agenda.
you have a point in the first couple of sentences. and that is precisely what I was getting at – it gets applied in reverse and the blinkers go on. its just that the abuse aimed at men, white men, white middle class men today grates heavily. call me a new-age menimist.
anyway, you said above “Most of the members of the Greens and indeed on this site, have old white men as fathers, grandfathers and so on. Too me it depicts the same tired men, (with the exception of key) with the same tired agenda.”
If you think then, alexandra, that NZ today is that bad then you may have a point in calling them tired and impliedly useless. But if, like me, you consider NZ society to be a society that is almost certainly one of the fairest and wealthiest that has ever existed, one of the easiest ever in which to get a roof over your head and food in you belly, one of the easiest in which to break out of your ‘caste’, one of the easiest to get educated, get a job, do nothing, do whatever your heart desires, then you had better start thanking those “tired men” because according to so much of the left today those “tired men” have been responsible for creating the society we have today.
Sure there is always room for improvement. But they are responsible, as even you seem to acknowledge in your own post, and so should not only be critically evaluated for their shortcomings but also thanked for the great things this society has achieved.
(and of course the NZ women and things the labour movt has wrought, but this is specifically about the so-called “tired men”. they actually aint that bad, and look at what they have achieved.)
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Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
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It really needs a fat CEO. Or a polluting farmer. Or Roger Douglas.
ah, roger douglas would be good.. but i just love the expression on his face.
Has their ever been a more racist party than the Green party???
Can you imagine if National had a billboard of a overweight unemployed Maori from south Auckland who beats up his wife, and they had the headline “Vote for Me” Party Vote Labour”
The hypocritical nature of the left is repulsive.
Still Labour supporters will lap it up.
What HAVE they been smoking this time? Doubtless a bad batch of dak. My advice is to stay off the hydroponic.
Its unbelievable how one party can hate one race so much, as I said in my previous post, if national had of done this using a blanet sterotype of a Maori, there would be outrage.
So what the Greens are suggesting is that your average National supporter is a rich old white man and I’m guessing they are suggesting that this is a bad thing.
Why you guys are trying to get votes by using hate, I would never know.
Brett I can’t tell if you’re being serious but you do know that this image has been mocked up as a joke, right? It’s not a real advertisement.
Yep, its been mocked up as a joke, and the Greens will blast it out on their web page, saying “Its only a joke, its not a ad”
Kind of like what Faux News does, all the time, when they want to blast the democrats, they tell ya something is a joke, but they keep playing it and playing it.
When satire is good its great, like the brilliant Jon Stewart, but when its bad its more cringe worthy than working for David Brent.
Here’s the Green billboards
http://www.greens.org.nz/election08
Can you please tell me which one you think is racist??
Some of us are sick of the rich old white men thinking they own the place. That’s not hate.
How did you get my photograph you unsavoury sods? The last green thing we had on the estate hung from a tree.
*Yep, its been mocked up as a joke, and the Greens will blast it out on their web page, saying “Its only a joke, its not a ad’*
But it has nothing to do with the Greens. This blog is The Standard, which although well leftie isn’t part of any political party.
How about a picture of Mr. Burns.
You may be sick of some old white man thinking they own the place? Which is strange since we have a high percentage of woman in power?
Some of us are sick of politicians on the left telling us how to think, what to eat and drink, and what to say, and are also sick of the blame game.
I agree with Brett. The left should try running a campaign that doesn’t involve smear and scare tactics. At least kiwiblog doesn’t resort to these sorts of blatant hate posts.
This blog is a joke. The bloggers here actually think they’re going to convince everyone with their left national-hating spin. But anyone with any sort of intelligence can see through it.
The posters on the standard are just further ostracising themselves from any mainstream or common-held individuals by blogging posts such as the one above. But in a way, I should actually give the standard the thanks it deserves. Because of these hate posts and the constant complaining, indidviduals are put off the left much faster than Helen and Winston could ever do themselves.
I’m left wing in many ways. But The Standard honestly gives the left a bad name by running these vile and one-sided acttacks on anyone who does not agree with them and blocking anyone who dares to disagree with the comments they made.
Thank god for free speech.
I like to know who donates to this blog?
The greens billboards are very manipulative.
Any party or company that uses children in their advertising (that isnt directly related to a child’s product) I would be very wary of.
[please don’t comment when you’re stoned. a) we use question marks to end questions ‘i would like to know’ is a statement of your desires, not a question b) no-one donates any money to this blog, no-one gets any money for writing on it. SP]
*You may be sick of some old white man thinking they own the place? Which is strange since we have a high percentage of woman in power?*
Sure we have some women in some key positions. But they’ve never had the kind of power as the old white boys. Of course women have always had their own kind of power, which is probably the one you are most afraid of.
*Some of us are sick of politicians on the left telling us how to think, what to eat and drink, and what to say, and are also sick of the blame game.*
That’s fine. Get political and get out there and do something about what you want changed then. Although I can’t recall the legislation that makes me eat or think in certain ways.
If you really want to get upset about billboards go here:
http://national.h.ac.nz/
Is it green social policy to feature happy children on their billboards when they form a government that is responsible for the massive increase in child abuse and infanticide statistics? Bloody airy fairy sods are nothing more than useless hypocrites!
The Labour Party would be my first and only guess Brett.
Explains the large percentage of Union and Labour staff positing day to day on here. Try some transparency and openess posters of the standard (which you readily attack National over not having) and actually show your own agenda. Or your real names might be nice. Congratulations to those who are open enough to freely admit their own personal name and stand up for their own views without having to hide behind some log-in name.
It seems that site, has been hijacked by Labour supporters, or I’m guessing its a Labour site.
brett. what the hell are you talking about?
clearly my picture is a humourous (not hateful) play on the stereotypical old conservative base of National – it’s his class, not his race.
It’s still offensive Steve to those individuals who fit under that particular stereotype. What would happen if a right-winger were to do the exact same parody with a low class maori beer-drinking worker in the picture and a title that said ‘party vote labour’.
I’m sure everyone would be up in arms screaming foul about how offensive that individual was being. It’s all a matter of perception.
That picture had nothing to do about the guy’s class, you picked an old WHITE rich guy.
It was stereotypical.
Leave the humor to people who are funny.
Satire offends all sorts of people, that’s part of its job. It’s not like it’s an actual billboard. Remember this:
http://www.national.org.nz/PreviewEcard.aspx?ECard=IwiKiwi
*same parody with a low class maori beer-drinking worker in the picture and a title that said ‘party vote labour’*
And what would be the point of that billboard parody?
The Green camapign looks awesome this time 10% of the vote is looking achievable
I was on a Greeen party stall yesterday and had unbelievably good feedback and visitors.
Only two people mentioned section 59 as a concern which was a surprise.
Labour who were next door had moderate interest and visitors whilst the National guy packed up and went home about ten o clock through lack of interest.
Uhm, I’m not stoned, and heres is a question, if anyone donated money to this blog would you except it?
[how could they donate money to the blog? it has no legal personality, no bank account. SP]
[lprent: Just at present the only person who donates money to the site is me (and I’m the only person or entity that ever has). That is likely to be the way that it stays. We don’t even have advertising. If the financial demands get too high, then I’d consider it. But I think we’d be more likely to just move to cheaper servers. It means that we can do things unencumbered by the need to consult anyone – including other writers on the site. ]
Now, none of you elitists are allowed to point that out.
Brett – I think that’s supposed to be accept. You’re in a delerium seek medical attention. Now.
elitest here – but how are we supposed to know what he means?
of course it is stereotypical, brett, that’s how satire works. But it’s clearly overblown – it mocks National voters as not ordinary Kiwis but part of a rich elite… but at the same time we all know that actual national voters don’t usually look like Rowley Birken QC (he’s a character on the fast show – the character is an over the top and hilarious play on the old drunk upper class toff)… it’s the fact that any sane person knows i’m not really saying all national voters are old drunks that makes it funny.. it wouldn’t be funny if it were hateful but it’s clearly not.. if you don’t think it’s funny you’re more than welcome to fuck off and make your own funny billboards on your site, maybe someone will see them some day.
sarah, it’s generally not funny when the person does the mocking is in a more powerful social position – so rich, mostly pakeha national saying ‘all labour voters are poor drunk maori’ isn’t funny, it’s just the powerful kicking those at the bottom again.
Typical response I would expect from someone from the left.
Steve: Who are you to say whats funny and whats your not? Thats a bit pretentious isnt it?
[you’re saying what’s funny and what’s not too – your view is just opposite to mine.. but i assume it’s only me that’s being pretentious. SP]
Typical or stereotypical, Brett?
edit: What are you doing here Brett apart from saying what’s funny and what’s not?
“sarah, it’s not funny when the person (who) does the mocking is in a more powerful social position – so rich, mostly pakeha national saying ‘all labour voters are poor drunk maori’ isn’t funny, it’s just the powerful kicking those at the bottom again.”
No double standards on this site ……. more along quietly now – and after such a reasonable first paragraph too.
It would be quite easy to donate money to this blog, just go up to Steve, slip a 50 Dollar note in his Karl Marx book, tell him to keep up the good work and to keep bashing big bad John Key who has the audacity to have nice house, which I’m sure he didn’t earn himself through hard work.
It will be quite easy.
I don’t think Steve has figured out, if ya going write something on a blog on the internet, your going to get people who disagree with you.
[brett, pretty used to people disagreeing with me by now, thanks, many of them in a more sophisticated manner than this. Obviously, someone giving me money is different from giving The Standard money. But I would not seek any such money and if someone did want to donate to The Standard I would suggest they give the money to a different Leftwing political cause instead – I have more than enough money for my needs, The Standard doesn’t need any money, apart from price of the server space, which Lynn pays out of his own unimpoverished pocket. SP]
[lprent: Oh it isn’t that unimproverished. I have a lawsuit and building site to fund. Some dickhead in the previous national government thought it’d be a good idea to deregulate the building industry.
Some idiots in the C&R (aka local National party in drag) did so without getting good building checks done on buildings like mine. Consequently the Auckland City Council (currently C&R dominated)has been spending considerable time in the high court. Our case come up in March. For the last two years I’ve been forking out money in massive interest payments. Fortunately this happens to be the cheapest entertainment around – all I had to do was give up smoking to pay for it. ]
Felix:
Im taking the south park point of view, not the lefist point of view, my main complaint is you cant say, you cant make fun of one sector and say you cant make fun of another, that is bigoted and that is what this site is doing.
And if you spend all day drinking and typing inane things on other people’s blogs?
Brett Dale:
I lol’d. You are doing an excellent job at satire there yourself. You are a hilarious parody of your stereotypical RWNJ.
Brett please put those thoughts into a sentence so they may be addressed.
Brett, do you consider the Monty Python skit “upper class twit of the year” racist and sexist?
Is The Simpsons racist and sexist because Monty Burns is a white male?
Were the IWI/KIWI billboards racist?
How about the Mcain campaign calling Obama ‘presumptuous’?
What if it was ‘uppity’ instead, would that be racist?
How about Dykeocracy? Is that sexist? Or nanny state? Does that offend you?
I’m only asking because you seem to take this stuff seriously, and those examples after the Monty Burns aren’t satire so I’m genuinely interested in your thoughts.
It’s not so much that people disagree with you Brett, it’s that no-one can follow what you are on about.
weka: it’s about getting on the piss and letting it all out as far as I can follow.
*How about Dykeocracy? Is that sexist? *
That’d be homophobic or heterosexist 😉
Weka, true enough, if the targets of that jibe were always lesbian eh.
Excellent!!!!
Surly your not comparing the great Monty Burns of the simpsons to thestandard?
The Simpsons is funny because it has a go at everybody, at all sterotypes, not just one.
PB, ae some people seem to think that calling a het woman a dyke is the worst thing you can say. Still seems pretty homophobic to me.
Hey Brett, give it a rest man. The picture here wasn’t from the Green Party. It was a mock up by SP. You didn’t think it was funny, fair enough. You make a good point that SP wouldn’t dare use a picture of an obese Maori voter as typical of labour-voting, because that would be considered racist. You could have also made the point that the picture above could well have been party vote labour, with a picture of crusty old George Hawkins, Harry Duynhoven, Michael Cullen, Mark Burton, etc etc.
When it comes to crusty old white guys, there are far more in Labour’s caucus than there are in any other political party. Equally, SP knows that when it comes to diversity National has a lot more to choose from, with candidates who are actually going to make it into Parliament, than what Labour’s got. In reality the real National Party vote billboard would have young and talented people like Nikki Kaye, Melissa Lee, Sam Lotu-Iiga, Simon Bridges, Hekia Parata, etc etc. Even John Key is a generation younger than Helen Clark.
I think the Standard is entitled to post anonymously. Call them out individually when their authors are being partisan, sure. It works much more effectively than trying to rail against the whole machine. There’s plenty of argument you can come up with on such a poor effort as this from SP. This was an attempt at humour. Some people found it funny. You didn’t. That’s life. But if you’re going to argue against it, use the arguments rather than attacking the whole site.
The captcha is “so Aldershot”. Maybe I’ve been hanging around this place too long, but this is the second time I’ve seen the word “Aldershot” in a Standard captcha. It is still only the second time I’ve ever seen the word “aldershot”. Anybody know, without resorting to a dictionary or google, what an Aldershot is?
Aldershot is town in UK with an large British Army camp
Brett is a member of the PC police.
Maybe a post-lobotomy patient should have used in the piss take instead? Not very sensitive, but much nearer the mark given the unbearable dribble emanating from those of a right wing bent in the comments above.
On the matter of the Green billboards, pretty good. Could easily have slipped into mash potato smaltz, but haven’t.
weka, sorry for being unclear. Im certainly not saying that it’s not homophobic, it most certainly is. It’s also sexist though yeah?
I sort of understood the term to be based around the idea that political, or any other sort of power, is inherently masculine.
Therefore where any women have any power they must be ‘faux women’;therefore ‘Lesbians’; therefore ‘Dykeocracy’. So both homophobic on it’s face, and sexist at heart. It’s a twofer!
Brett.
Nope, I’m comparing the stereotype in this post to Monty Burns, because it’s the same stereotype.
How about those IWI/KIWI billboards?
How about a picture of Mr. Burns.
Now that’s a good idea – but better for last election, not this one.
Looking at National’s energy, environment, and climate change policies, what about the Huntly power station, or a giant open-cast coal mine?
(Captcha = abrogated bases. They belonged to us, but we’re giving them away…)
Personally I thought those billboards were not that amusing, I guess some people who like low brow humor thought they were funny.
I thought the reaction to them was the funniest thing about them.
Well done oob, I’ve learned something new without having to google it. That’s pretty rare nowadays.
I didn’t think they were funny either. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me that they were meant to be . I do think they were effective though.
There’s got to be a worser way:
http://i36.tinypic.com/ngoapg.jpg
(the bad grammar intentional, in line with other right-wing billboards)
” you cant make fun of one sector and say you cant make fun of another”
This is the heart of it, and the coronary comes when you are talking about power relationships.
Godwin alert!
It’s one thing to make Nazi jokes along the lines of Harry Enfield’s ‘Not too Camp’ jibes, or sing songs about the number of gonads various reich officials could claim possession of.
Joking about how many Jews can fit in a VW? Not so funny.
Hey, PB, just watched upper class twit of the year – thanks for that, I like a laugh of a Sunday afternoon.
“How about a picture of Mr. Burns.”
I take a better photo than Brendon does and I own a nuclear power plant.
Last election the local nats billboard actually DID have a picture of Mr Burns plastered over it.
Happen anywhere else?
Chris – was it Peter, Brendon or Monty Burns?
Steve Pierson said: The Greens billboards have shown how it’s done – striking and simple without being dishonest or simplistic. Maybe National could imitate them:
Nope, they won’t get it together Steve, Thay can’t even get the grammar correct.
I’d say maximise the Party vote for the Greens. That’s the best way to give the big finger to those with a far-right agenda who back National and their hidden agenda.
Given the policies, the Nats would have to be swallowing dead rats for the next 3 years to get Green support!
When it comes to crusty old white guys, there are far more in Labour’s caucus than there are in any other political party.
Ahh, wrong.
Equally, SP knows that when it comes to diversity National has a lot more to choose from, with candidates who are actually going to make it into Parliament, than what Labour’s got.
Wrong again. You’re usually more accurate than this Tim.
Steve money was donated to your blog by Labour who paid for your server hosting am I not correct!!
[lprent: Wrong (as usual).
The Labour party has never paid for anything to do with this blog. A kind organization donated some server space to the NZLP. Needless to say the NZLP had absolutely no idea what to do with this. So they gave control of it to some activists to provide facilities for other left activists. When the standard was falling over due to lack of bandwidth, access to the servers was offered and accepted.
So the NZLP has never paid anything to maintain this site. The server space you’re referring to was paid for by the donor. Of course that idiot Whale is incapable of understanding subtleties like that, just as I suspect you are.
Rather than let the NZLP put up with undeserved flak from the bottom feeders around the blogs, after 3 weeks, I moved the site to my home server. Shortly thereafter put it in the linux server that it now resides in, and steadily increased my payments to keep the resource levels up.
Now I take great pleasure in terminating idiots like you who even mention the topic here. I consider that it shows a considerable level of stupidity bearing in mind the number of times I’ve explained this. I’m tired of it so I *love* making examples of people who mention it in my presence – I like helping people achieve martyrdom.
Banned for ummm 2 months to contemplate . E-mail me after the election to get removed from the blacklist. I’m putting you there because you do not ban yourself, and put too many messages into the moderation queue.]
Monty burns. Definitely.
I think I have a photo somewhere.
It wasn’t an airbrushed photo of him trying to look twenty years younger? Just like Miss Clark does every election.
[lprent: You’re looking to me like a troll. Lift your Standard or leave. So far I haven’t seen anything useful in any of your comments. ]
Rob,
Even I know you’re not correct.
This has been canvassed (and recanvassed) so many times that the facts have passed into our collective mind (except, apparently, yours).
“At least kiwiblog doesn?t resort to these sorts of blatant hate posts.”
Bahahahahahahahaha
Rob. Before I joined the collective, the Standard was hosted on server space that Labour had been donated and passed on to us for a total of 7 days.
The Standard had outgrown our previous server, the Labour offer was accepted, perhaps unwisely, but they decided The Standard needed bigger space to grow into than Labour had given anyway and moved on to our current server, which Lynn pays for. There was no money from Labour for the cost of the server at any point.
Yup, there was 7 days on a server, server space worth approximately bugger all a year (what’s 7/365ths of bugger all?)
[lprent: The NZLP didn’t even pay for that space for 21 days. It was a donation to them. So as usual he is dead wrong – and now banned.]
Christopher Nimmo:
I remember one between Hamilton and Raglan with Burns pasted over Brash. The resemblance was striking.
Thought The Standard’s readers might also like this one.
Pretty weak, actually, I thought the Greens were above gutter politics.
Does anyone here really think that is going to happen under a centre right Government?
Brett Dale: Are you getting the sense that you protest too much, yet?
L
Surely it should read
Does anyone here really think that there is going to be a centre right Government?
Just seen this – disgusting and hypocritical. You just love to take the piss out of white middle class older men don’t you.
No doubt somebody above has already suggested doing the fat-arsed lazy dole-bludger, probably maori or islander in south auckland, who has a cuzzy in the courts or jail. Stereotypes ay SP? gotta love ’em. And my god how you seem to love stereotypes – well only certain ones. of course. otherwise it is racist. isn’t it.
the biggest letdown of the current state of the left
I love that old guy from the fast show…fantastic. His entire response to life was that ‘…I was drunk at the time.’ Gosh if the tories were half as appealing, Id be half inclined to vote for them!
oh alexandra, just a joke was it?. ha ha ha. sounds familiar.
Lets not forget the IWI – KIWI billboards. The above is hardly aimed at creating the same social division that the Nats attempted to do in 2005. Whether something is racist surely depends on who is telling the story. Most of the members of the Greens and indeed on this site, have old white men as fathers, grandfathers and so on. Too me it depicts the same tired men, (with the exception of key) with the same tired agenda.
you have a point in the first couple of sentences. and that is precisely what I was getting at – it gets applied in reverse and the blinkers go on. its just that the abuse aimed at men, white men, white middle class men today grates heavily. call me a new-age menimist.
anyway, you said above “Most of the members of the Greens and indeed on this site, have old white men as fathers, grandfathers and so on. Too me it depicts the same tired men, (with the exception of key) with the same tired agenda.”
If you think then, alexandra, that NZ today is that bad then you may have a point in calling them tired and impliedly useless. But if, like me, you consider NZ society to be a society that is almost certainly one of the fairest and wealthiest that has ever existed, one of the easiest ever in which to get a roof over your head and food in you belly, one of the easiest in which to break out of your ‘caste’, one of the easiest to get educated, get a job, do nothing, do whatever your heart desires, then you had better start thanking those “tired men” because according to so much of the left today those “tired men” have been responsible for creating the society we have today.
Sure there is always room for improvement. But they are responsible, as even you seem to acknowledge in your own post, and so should not only be critically evaluated for their shortcomings but also thanked for the great things this society has achieved.
(and of course the NZ women and things the labour movt has wrought, but this is specifically about the so-called “tired men”. they actually aint that bad, and look at what they have achieved.)