The Two Nations: or, Why Won’t They Bail Me Out?

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 pm, January 11th, 2011 - 38 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war - Tags: ,

Of all the mysteries of the present financial crisis, the most baffling is why government agencies have gone to such lengths to protect the value of bad investments made by large institutions and multi-millionaires.

After all, under the rules of the capitalist game, owners of shares and bonds are supposed take a “haircut” if the investment goes bad. And it’s also an Economics 101 principle that if you give relief to the little people, that will have a more stimulating effect on the economy than if you bail out the wealthiest interests in society.

For instance, in the Scandinavian financial crisis of the early 1990s the Swedes made the shareholders take a haircut; and something similar has just happened in Iceland. The result is a short sharp shock and then everything gets back to normal.

But nearly everywhere else we’ve seen governments throwing money at the banks so as to preserve the value of their shares and bonds regardless of who they are owed to, while slashing social spending and, in America, forcing those who owe the mortgages into a new kind of slavery, even as the country slides into gloom and depression. And the politicians are doing so even when they were elected on the opposite platform, like the UK Liberal Democrats.
Perhaps the answer lies in an interview recorded nearly two years ago with US Representative Paul Kanjorski, in which Kanjorski explains that of course it would make more sense to bail out the little people and force the investors to face up to their bad investments and shoky pyramids; but the problem is that any attempt to do so would lead to a total run on the banks by investors.

One can think of all kinds of possibilities for a sensible, Swedish-style solution, such as a government-backed write-down in the value of both real estate and mortgages. Nearly everyone agrees that real estates and mortgages have been inflated by a financial bubble to levels far above their ‘real’ value, and are acting as a drag on the rest of the economy as a result. That is the most serious aspect of the present financial crisis. Nonetheless, it seems impossible get Humpty Dumpty off the wall.

Why is such a solution impossible? Perhaps, at the root of the political impasse, is the simple fact that the top 1% in the still-very-influential USA owns more than the bottom 90% . Much of the wealth of the top 1% is currently in inflated real estate values. And these are also the people who fund the political parties. Lastly, the anonymity of the modern market system means that the owners have no social ties with those who owe; it is a generalised condition of absentee landlordism.

And so America now resembles 1840s Europe, Britain or Ireland, in the sense of being:-

Two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets. THE RICH AND THE POOR.

(Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil: or, the Two Nations, 1845)

Of course America herself has been two nations before [a conflict itself arising from the plantation owners, the capitalist elite of the day, trying to maintain the source of their privilege – Marty]. And so, under conditions that resemble the explosive, yet paralysing, economic tensions of the mid-nineteenth century, over absentee landlordism, capitalists and workers, and slave property, the two nations are locked in a struggle with no easy way out. To conclude on a touch of suitably Victorian melodrama, they are like Holmes and Moriarty clutching each other’s throats at the top of the Reichenbach Falls (download The Final Problem). How long till someone slips? How long till 1848? Or, let’s hope not, 1861?

ChrisH

38 comments on “The Two Nations: or, Why Won’t They Bail Me Out? ”

  1. Colonial Viper 1

    I think you’ve just invited all the Right Wingers and Neocons to come on and start spouting “hey we don’t think there should have been any corporate welfare, we don’t think the big banks should have been bailed out” etc etc

    (Although of course they do, anything which transfers public money into private hands is something that their wealthy business and political leaders will always support and which fits right in with the Right Wing ethos of envy and greed).

    At the end of the day the answers are relatively simple: basic banking should be reconstructed as a nonprofit community utility and investment banking completely firewalled off from the real economy.

    Further, all our money should cease to be issued as debt based private bank cash. Instead it should be issued as a debt free dollar by the Government.

  2. McFlock 2

    To be fair, a lot of RWNJs have been saying that the bailouts were a moral hazard, etc, so it’s further proof that truly free markets have never been tried. Whatever.

    The other big difference between the approach of bailing out the rich vs bailing out the poor is that more kids die if the former is followed rather than the latter. A quick lit review here (look under “longtitudinal studies”) suggests that Sweden had a neglible impact on infant mortality during it’s recession mentioned above, but Peru experience 17,000 more infant deaths a few years previously in its (admittedly apparently more severe) recession a few years previously.

    I saw on the news the other night an article about people using the emergency department at hospital more often now, instead of visiting their GP, with the cost as a major factor. That’s a classic example of poor access to primary healthcare having greater impact on the health system than just making it free – but that solution just doesn’t compute these bright and right shiney days.

  3. I know a couple who earn $150K each. He was sick recently (stomach bug) and went to A&E ( to save $50 seeing the doctor). He then complains about people ripping off the system and the government needing to tighten up benefits, ACC etc . Now just who is rorting here? They missed the irony of it all…and of course complained about the 3 hour wait….

    • ZeeBop 3.1

      Everyone on the left should get their head out of their behinds, they don’t need to wait for Labour to win the election and solve everything, not like Labour will anyway.

      The above article makes a brilliant point. That if there is no social connection between the in debted – lots of people on the left and right – and the holders of the debt then society becomes very mean.

      Everyone who has a mortgage can renegotiate that mortage! So what we need is to re-negotiate our largest debt and take that debt to local socially connected institutions, like local building and credit unions.

      So Labour should build a super fund that holds NZ mortgages for NZ by NZ and of NZ.
      But you can start by shifting your debts to local financial providers! Not Ozzie banks.
      And we will begin to stop the profits flowing out of NZ.

  4. Orangepeel 4

    “I think you’ve just invited all the Right Wingers and Neocons to come on and start spouting “hey we don’t think there should have been any corporate welfare, we don’t think the big banks should have been bailed out” etc etc”
    100% correct there.

    “Although of course they do, anything which…the Right Wing ethos of envy and greed”
    Hold on! What? How does that work? Who made the public money? Why would Right wingers (like me) be in favour of government interference with business? Isn’t that a contradiction?

    “At the end of the day the answers are relatively simple: basic banking should be reconstructed as a nonprofit community utility and investment banking completely firewalled off from the real economy”
    Even though it’s profit which has been the driving force to success more than anything…

    “Further, all our money should cease to be issued as debt based private bank cash”
    Agreed.

    “Instead it should be issued as a debt free dollar by the Government.”
    What? No! The government shouldn’t have all that money in the first place. FDR prolonged the Depression in America with HIS spending.

    • Zaphod Beeblebrox 4.1

      What, go back to the gold standard? Lack of liquidity is what help start the great depression in the first place.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.2

      Hold on! What? How does that work?

      By the normal capitalist method of transferring all the wealth to the few.

      Who made the public money?

      This question makes no sense whatsoever.

      Even though it’s profit which has been the driving force to success more than anything…

      Profit isn’t the driving force for most of humanity – only the psychopathic. In fact, it’s the profit motive that drives the psychopathic that causes the economy to collapse as it channels all the wealth into very few hands.

      The government shouldn’t have all that money in the first place.

      You totally mis-read what he said. Money is presently printed, with almost no limits, by the private banks (It’s how they make such massive profits). Now, what he actually said was that the printing of money should be done by the government alone and that it shouldn’t have interest on it and that the private banks shouldn’t print any money at all.

      • Orangepeel 4.2.1

        “By the normal capitalist method of transferring all the wealth to the few.”
        Capitalism has not transferring of wealth whatsoever; it is nothing but wealth being produced and spent (spent could be counted as EQUAL transfer if you will).

        “This question makes no sense whatsoever.”
        I was getting at how government can’t create wealth. Ever. It can only take from INDIVIDUALS who PRODUCED the wealth.

        “Profit isn’t the driving force for most of humanity”
        Economically it is. Are you seriously saying that most people aren’t out for their best self interest?

        “In fact, it’s the profit motive that drives the psychopathic that causes the economy to collapse as it channels all the wealth into very few hands.”
        No, it was relaxed fraud laws that allowed bankers to cheat people, and lead to the collapse. If there’s any channeling of wealth, that immediately destroys an argument calling it capitalism.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.2.1.1

          Capitalism has not transferring of wealth whatsoever;

          Capitalists don’t create wealth so the way that they get it is by transferring the wealth that is created from the people who create it.

          I was getting at how government can’t create wealth.

          Governments are the representative of the individuals in the society and are there to administer the societies wealth. Individuals, by themselves, cannot create wealth, they can only do so when they belong to a society as the society provides the resources and infrastructure that allows them to do so. The government printing the money is a recognition that the resources belong to the community.

          Economically it is. Are you seriously saying that most people aren’t out for their best self interest?

          Economically, most wealth comes from the environment. Most people just want something to do – as long as they have somewhere to live and enough to eat profit means nothing.

          No, it was relaxed fraud laws that allowed bankers to cheat people, and lead to the collapse.

          Sure, the laws were relaxed – at the behest of the bankers. Bankers always cheat, they’ve been doing so for 5 centuries (and probably longer but I’m not sure if they used a banking system in Roman times).

          If there’s any channeling of wealth, that immediately destroys an argument calling it capitalism.

          The heart of capitalism is a form of ownership that enforces channelling of the wealth to the few. That’s why the capitalists keep wanting to privatise (remove the wealth from the community) everything.

        • Benson 4.2.1.2

          “Are you seriously saying that most people aren’t out for their best self interest?”

          We shouldn’t be. I’m certainly not only out for my economic self interest, that would be rather selfish given that my gains would come at the expense of others. Profit should never be a priority.

          As for government only taking wealth from others, that’s actually precisely what capitalism does. It is the worker (or ‘individual’) who creates the wealth. He is alienated from that wealth when it is appropriated by the capitalist.
          CAPITALISM “can only take from INDIVIDUALS who PRODUCED the wealth.”

          • Orangepeel 4.2.1.2.1

            “We shouldn’t be. I’m certainly not only out for my economic self interest, that would be rather selfish given that my gains would come at the expense of others. Profit should never be a priority.”
            The average person, no matter how good or bad they are, will hold the highest incentive when working for their own best interests; it’s human nature. Even if it wasn’t, there’s nothing stopping them from giving their wealth to whom they want. If profit isn’t the priority, then how do they expect to gain the wealth for their interest (IE helping the poor, donating to any foundation, etc)?

            “As for government only taking wealth from others, that’s actually precisely what capitalism does. It is the worker (or ‘individual’) who creates the wealth. He is alienated from that wealth when it is appropriated by the capitalist.”
            The Capitalist who refuses to give the worker his fair share is committing suicide in the competitive market: rival Capitalists know that they can persuade the workers to join them by offering a fair share of resources, working out for both the worker’s and the rival Capitalist’s self interest – they benefit each other.

            • mcflock 4.2.1.2.1.1

              Here’s an interesting slide – the emphasis is added by me:

              “We shouldn’t be. I’m certainly not only out for my economic self interest, that would be rather selfish given that my gains would come at the expense of others. Profit should never be a priority.”
              The average person, no matter how good or bad they are, will hold the highest incentive when working for their own best interests; it’s human nature. Even if it wasn’t, there’s nothing stopping them from giving their wealth to whom they want. If profit isn’t the priority, then how do they expect to gain the wealth for their interest (IE helping the poor, donating to any foundation, etc)?

              There’s a difference between keeping profits in mind and just leaving your morality at the office door. Profit “maximisation” versus “satisfycing” – i.e. rather than doing a cost-benefit analysis on recalling an unsafe product, remembering that you’re responsible if the product kills someone and recalling it as a matter of principle.

              As for your market analysis of the job market, you repeat the habit of forgetting that the power is weighted towards the capitalist, not the worker. Almost always there are fewer jobs than there are workers – and the capitalist is less likely to lose their home if they don’t have a receptionist for a few weeks, but the receptionist could well lose their home if they’re unemployed for a few weeks.

              • Orangepeel

                That’s fraud, and that’s dealt with people who dislike it paying voluntary taxation to the government for more regulation on fraud.
                Or it’s like a factory with poor health and safety. IF there is a business that dares to hold poor health and safety in the competitive market the consumers and/or the workers (who can also serve as consumers) will want to know about how safe their products are. If they aren’t safe, what’s stopping them from purchasing products from a safer company?
                The company with greater safety will attract more customers, make more profit, and force the other companies to buck up their standards if they want to compete.

                On the contrary, the competitive market creates a surplus of jobs for workers. The mixed economies who call themselves capitalist yet hold total government regulations have reduced the amount of jobs there could be.
                Actual free markets create a competitive market without the use of government regulations, and that in itself puts the worker almost as high up as the consumer.
                A Capitalist could NEVER afford to exploit his workers. Workers are the resource needed for corporate expansion, and to abuse them would mean they could simply work for a rival company.
                Now, normally there wouldn’t be the enough of a rival company to take in workers, but being in the position it’s in it would really be a whole lot of workers filling in better positions needed for the rival company to expand as well as a better position the workers want.
                ‘Capitalists’ have never been able to reach their position of holding power over its workers without government assistance.

                • Colonial Viper

                  On the contrary, the competitive market creates a surplus of jobs for workers. The mixed economies who call themselves capitalist yet hold total government regulations have reduced the amount of jobs there could be.

                  Meh, you do realise we’ve actually lived your Chicago School free market BS for decades now and have figured the game out for ourselves? The US has exported tens of millions of jobs away from its own citizens to bottom of the pay barrel nations, while diverting 80% of all the new income generated from using cheap foreign labour to the richest 1% of Americans.

                  If they aren’t safe, what’s stopping them from purchasing products from a safer company?

                  I dunno, maybe the fact that the same Chinese toy factory making the same unsafe lead painted toys might supply dozens of different branded US based companies in your local store, and a consumer is never ever going to know which brand is safe or unsafe – because they are actually all made by the same cut price factory in Shenzhen.

                  And in some cases the only way that a consumer is going to find out something is unsafe is to die from the product.

                  This has been the case with many blockbuster drugs in the last 10 years.

                  Bottom line – free market neoliberalism is BS.

                  ‘Capitalists’ have never been able to reach their position of holding power over its workers without government assistance.

                  Which in the US they have had for the last 35 continuous years. Probably the last real President the US had was Kennedy. He didn’t last long.

                  In fact the US Government doesn’t represent the people any more, it represents business and industry interests, and also the top 1% of people who own more financial wealth in the US than the bottom 95% put together.

                  It’s a plutocracy my friend and you are spieling the same plutocratic lines which have finally given the richest 1% of Americans a 23% share of the nations total income.

                  • Orangepeel

                    You’ve compared free market neo liberalism to China and the US. Your argument is invalid. NEITHER are free economies… especially not China. Two mixed economies trading with eachother should tell you there are problems.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Oh I see. In that case, good on you for backing Chicago School free market neoliberalism, a capitalist system which exists nowhere in the world except in textbooks. Not a single country of any wealth runs a truly free market neoliberal economy as you define it. Why? Because it’s a total unworkable fiction.

                      Seriously. The US is a plutocracy and the top 1% of wealth holders own more assets than the bottom 95% put together.

                      And guess what, that top 1% don’t want truly free markets they want markets slanted towards them. For the last 35 years this has been their pet project and it has worked damn well. 80% of all new income generated in the US over the last 3 decades has gone to the top 1% of individuals.

  5. Orangepeel 5

    Not at all! Government interference has worked in the past (It worked GREAT in Nazi Germany) but for a better (and quicker) solution would have been LESS interference.

    • Bright Red 5.1

      Orangepeel – you’re American eh? Well, government ‘inteference’ built your freeways, and hospitals and schools, and keeps the streets safe, and makes sure the food you eat is safe, and makes sure that workers get a minimum standard of pay and working conditions, and gives you legal protections for your property and rights, and courts to unhold them in, and a currency you can use of agreed value, and has foiled how many terrorist plots?

      There is a country without a government. It’s called Somilia. Funny how you Randites aren’t flocking to live there.

      • Orangepeel 5.1.1

        “Orangepeel – you’re American eh”
        Half.
        “Well, government ‘inteference’ built your freeways, and hospitals and schools,”
        Taking the role of a business I see. How corporatist.
        “get a minimum standard of pay and working conditions”
        Minimum standard of pay has brought about nothing but inconvenience for not just the business, nor has it benefited the individual. My sister couldn’t get a job because no company could AFFORD to pay her the minimum wage.
        Along with abolition of the minimum wage should come abolition of taxes. That way, there’s competition of companies to gain employers to gain resources. If one company exploits it’s workers, another company can easily say “Hey! Rather than paying you $1 an hour. We’ll pay you 2! For half the work!” Now the workers will all leave the exploiting business for the higher pay job, benefiting all seeing as how the company sacrificed low wages for employees, which benefit them in the long run. Now all a company has to do to get employees if offer a higher wage which makes exploitation impossible in the free market.

        “gives you legal protections for your property and rights, and courts to unhold them in, and a currency you can use of agreed value, and has foiled how many terrorist plots?”
        Same thing achievable by VOLUNTARY taxation: if I want the government protection due to terrorism and crime, a demand for it is created. How do you satisfy your demand? Buy it like a product through voluntary taxation.
        “There is a country without a government. It’s called Somilia.”
        It’s called SOMALIA. And they don’t know about economics and have had corrupt leadership for years.

        • mcflock 5.1.1.1

          “It’s called SOMALIA. And they don’t know about economics and have had corrupt leadership for years”

          Oh, economics only works if you know all about it?

          I guess that your economic theories don’t apply to NZ, then, given that apparently the majority of the population are ignorant about economic matters.

          And Somalia has had weak leadership for years, preceded by a state of anarchy after the fall of the Soviet Union.

        • Zaphod Beeblebrox 5.1.1.2

          In Somalia no one takes an interest in the needs to the individual or the public good. The government is simply a means to channel wealth to certain individuals.

          Why would this be any different if we subcontracted such things to private corporations and business- Somalia (or Russia for that matter) are the perfect example of what would happen .

        • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1.3

          This is the type of society that you’re promoting.

        • Roger 5.1.1.4

          “If one company exploits it’s workers, another company can easily say “Hey! Rather than paying you $1 an hour. We’ll pay you 2! For half the work!” Now the workers will all leave the exploiting business for the higher pay job, benefiting all seeing as how the company sacrificed low wages for employees, which benefit them in the long run. Now all a company has to do to get employees if offer a higher wage which makes exploitation impossible in the free market.”

          1: Do you have any empirical evidence to suggest this actually happens in any country without a minimum wage? If so is it the exception rather than the norm?

          2: If the second company is paying the 4 times the wages for the work, what is there to stop the first company or another competitor that pays $1 for double the work undercutting the higher paying company on the price of the end product and taking all of their market share?

          3: If such low wages are allowed, where is the incentive to innovate and bring in new capital and technology to improve productivity and lift living standards for all?

          4: Wages paid ends up being money invested or spent. If there is no minimum wage and the market equilibrium is significantly lower (even $2 per hour) how is the business going to get enough turnover to meet its fixed costs? I do not want an answer that involves one group of people being exploited for the benefit of another group. If the business struggles what will it do? Sack people or reduce pay back to $1?

          You allegedly have something in common with the people of Somalia, a lack of knowledge about economics.

          • Descendant Of Smith 5.1.1.4.1

            If you take picking apples as an example the orchardists moan when New Zealanders jump the fence and go next door to the orchard paying a higher bin rate.

            With cellphones and texting word gets around very quickly these days if someone is paying a higher rate – or they leave when say the third pick starts to work on an orchard where they are just starting on the first pick – you can make more money on a first pick cause there are more apples on the tree and the easy ones haven’t already been taken off.

            Yep they say it just proves that New Zealanders are lazy and don’t want to work and we need overseas workers. No mention of the reason why they left that particular orchard – or the one that has no toilet facilities.

            Of course with the overseas workers they can’t leave the orchardist who has bought em here and they, the employer, can do things in the quiet weeks such as still pay them for 30 hours work even though they worked 15 and take it out of their later pay when they work longer hours.

            Would they do the same courtesy for the NZer’s – not on your nelly.

            And before anyway starts suggesting I’m opposed to overseas workers I’m not – there lots of good reasons why they should be used but for this post it illustrates a real life scenario where the employer doesn’t lift their pay rates to compete for workers – they increase the request for overseas workers and modify their paying practices to meet the requirements of 30 hours work per week.

            Back to bed now – only got up cause a dog was chasing our cat.

  6. Afewknowthetruth 6

    The writer is obviously detached from reality.

    ‘The result is a short sharp shock and then everything gets back to normal.’

    We are living in a post peak oil world. Nothing can ever ‘get back to normal’ because what people believe to be normal is actually a short-lived aberration in the grand scheme of things, brought about by abundant and cheap fossil fuels.

    Cheap and easy extraction of fossil fuels is no longer possible, and as the peak oil predicament worsens there will be less and less energy available to do anything (and what is available will be at a much higher price). The peak in global per capita energy was around 1979 and now we face a decline in total global energy.

    Orthodox economics is a set of fantasies and fabrications that have been foisted upon society by a gang of liars and thieves. The fundamaental flaws in othodox economics (failure to take account of energy, resources and environment, which all magically appear as required) have now been clearly exposed, and the complete collapse of present economic and socail arrangements is inevitable. It will occur fairly soon.

    The powers that be recognise this and are engaged in one final looting of the till exercise.

    It is increasingly clear that most people, rather than acknowledging and dealing with the realities of peak oil and environmental collapse, prefer to pretend there are no ‘elephants in the room that are gradually destroying the furniture’.

    Better living through denial?

    • M 6.1

      Afewknowthetruth

      ‘Orthodox economics is a set of fantasies and fabrications that have been foisted upon society by a gang of liars and thieves.’

      Chris Martenson’s Political Economy is an interesting post – I particularly liked the reply by blogger Travlin:

      Dr KrbyLuv

      You have raised an interesting issue and provided good examples. I think the essence of the answer is in this quote.

      There was a guy named von Clausewitz who said, ‘War is a continuation of politics by other means’. (I say) Politics is a continuation of economics by other means. — Michael Ruppert

      Economics as an academic discipline is fairly recent. Not much over 100 years old I think. To gain respectability economist have worked hard to divorce themselves from the political sphere and portray their work as an objective science. They largely ignore the shared assumptions and biases they build upon and the political influences these reflect.

      Modern economies are so complex that simplifications are required to explain anything. For example, economist are notorious for ignoring the human factors by assuming everyone acts rationally. When business school graduates enter the real world they quickly have to jettison much of the knowledge they paid a high price to acquire, if they want to survive.

      Over the past few decades economists have tried to be more “rigorous” by focusing on models based on complex math. In the process they increasing ignore reality as they admire the beauty of their elegant theories.

      It is now clear that most economist have misread past and current trends to such an extent that they have shown how bankrupt their profession is. Many of them have prostituted themselves by justifying the actions of the people who pay them well, and acting as cheerleaders to bring in more suckers. They provide a respectable front for the pirates. One thing they have done very well – they have thoroughly discredited themselves.

  7. jcuknz 7

    Orangepeel … Roosevelt prolonged the depression by listening to the right wingers rather than holding true to what he had done in his first term. For his seciond term he cut back on the stimulous packages that had made his first term so successful. That is economics 101 too.

    When this discussion takes place I think of all the small investors who in New Zealand have lost their life savings and have been left to survive on Nat Sup. Naturally it was bad advice and greed on their part for that extra one or two percent which led them astray but it was bad thinking and greed for a bit extra which caused the ‘big boys’ to fail too. Why do one get bailed out and not the others. The overall sums are not that different to my way of thinking.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 7.1

      And why were the accounting standards relaxed for finance companies in the nineties under national ?
      Its seems unbelievable now but they used to have stricter rules to protect the small investors, especially a requirement for 6 monthly audited accounts.
      But its the same old story for national , policy for sale.
      Labours hands are not too clean, thats why they are saying nothing but Dalziel fumbled with the ball for too long and was like other ministers captured by the ministry ( and financiers?)

      • Herodotus 7.1.1

        Cannot find the source (Take my word !!) but in the lat 80’s there was a paper prepared from Treasury/Finance ministry regarding stiffenng the requirements of Finance coys, this has hung within someones draw for 30 years with no action by any govt, that includes Lab, GWW. Until the door breaks no one is interested in pre empitive legislation it is all post an event.
        Look how long it took for NZ3910 to be changed supposedly protecting the subbie from an aggressive main contractor/developer. Tell that to all those owner operators who had their sole source of income (machinery) locked away as the receiver took control of the site. Many were owned so much from 3-6 months ago that they were “co-erced” into re negotiating their rates, otherwise owed payments would be further delayed.
        The only good thing (not to sure who or when) was when the govt of the day required regarding listed coy take overs that all shareholders were to receive the same offer, previosly to that major shareholders recieived more favourable terms than small mum/dad investors, then at 90% takeover ownership were forced to comply.
        NAnd Ghost as we have seen reporting compliance is nothing when what is reported (mis) is crap and there are no real deterrents available to the authority re Inter-party transactions that ALL finance coys seem to have been involove in, to the benefit of a select few owners.
        re your comment about Lab- I just dont think they cared, and by default they protected in a big way those extremely rich pricks. !!!!

  8. The Two Nations concept is more unhelpful than helpful. It confuses class with nation.
    All the evidence shows that the two national are two classes, but instead of arriving at this understanding, both classes are bound together in one nation by chauvinism.
    How is it that the working class majority sees itself as part of ‘one nation’? How is it that the tiny capitalist minority convinces the rest of us that we are “all in it together”? That is the question.

  9. randal 9

    these crims and sleazeballs who ran the ponzi schemes and ran off with all the money vote national.
    thats why the government wont do anything.
    the press is complicit too.
    they know who bought all those column inches.

  10. randal 10

    time to start calling a spade a spade and stop dressing all this criminal behaviour up in pseudo policy advice talk.
    ya hear me?

  11. Descendant Of Smith 11

    This is a perfect illustration of an Economist putting economic theory into practice:

    Start off at one place and end up somewhere totally unexpected and different having caused a whole lot of people plenty of grief in the meantime.

  12. johnm 12

    THE IRISH PEOPLE ARE STEADFASTLY WITH RIGHTEOUS OUTRAGE TRASHING THE DEAL TO BAIL OUT THE RICH WHOSE CASINO BETS WENT WRONG.
    May God Protect Global Bankers: Irish Leaders Castigated As Greatest Traitors Of All Time
    the names of Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan are now being reviled as the villains who inflicted horrendous financial disaster upon the Irish people and forced the enslavement of future generations to a criminal cadre of International Banksters.

    The words ‘treason’, ‘traitors’, and ‘treachery’ are being increasingly used not only by ordinary citizens but also by certain politicians, economists, business leaders, and celebrities. ‘Economic treason’ was a term used by the leader of the Labour Party to describe Cowen and Lenihan’s blanket guarantee to the banks. And, incredibly, even the country’s ostensibly non-partisan police association, the GRA, accused the government of ‘treachery’ and denounced it as a ‘government of national sabotage’.
    Refer link:
    http://dailybail.com/home/may-god-protect-global-bankers-irish-leaders-castigated-as-g.html

    [lprent: My moderator instincts get aroused when I see very similar comments across two posts within minutes. I’d suggest you don’t try this as a generic practice because it draws my attention. It tends to annoy me when people start using the site as a dumping ground for cut’n’paste. ]

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

  • 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
    13 hours ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
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